A Golden Opportunity - The Forgotten
by Reika-Hell-Flower
Summary: This place… how many lives have been ruined here? People that loved working here, others that, just like me, didn't have much of a choice… and now these kids… What happened to them? Why are they like this? Can I really help them, or am I too late? Was I involved somehow in what happened to them? What do I have to remember...? [Sequel to "The Other Guard"]
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Five Nights at Freddy's" or its characters.**

 **[A/N - Hello everyone! Back to the main plotline for us. As usual, beware of seemingly unimportant details from previous installments turning out to be significant.]**

* * *

"What – the _hell_ – happened – _here_?!"

Lawrence was close to erupting, rubbing his eyes firmly. It had been quite some time since he felt the urge to murder someone this strongly. He was seeing red now. If those two _fucking_ idiots showed up now to his face, God knows what would happen…

The young janitor that stood next to the manager seemed undisturbed by the man's overwhelming aura of killing intent. In fact, she looked quite bored and stoic, blinking calmly.

"I am no expert, but if I had to give my professional opinion, I'd say someone tampered with the robot's AI," Mira stated, matter-of-factly.

Lawrence let out a growl of frustration. "I can see that!" he snapped, making the trembling technician in front of them quiver even more. "Their AIs are set to the maximum, what the hell were those two morons thinking…?!"

"As idiotic as they may be, I doubt that they would willingly crank the robots' AI to the maximum," Mira stated, her calmness and serenity contrasting with the man's boiling anger in an almost comical manner. "Something must have gone wrong…"

"Yes, in their _brains_."

"… and instead of their AI being set to the minimum, it was set to maximum," Mira continued, ignoring Lawrence's interruption entirely. "It must have been _their_ doing."

The manager grumbled something, but instead of fuming over the night guards' stupidity he instead chose to turn away from the robots so he would not succumb to the temptation of tearing them to pieces.

"Sometimes I wonder if it's really worth it to keep this place open," he muttered to himself, though Mira could hear him. "I get nothing but headaches and money coming out of pocket…"

Mira turned to follow him. "You are doing the right thing. If this pizzeria closes down, no rest will come to the souls of those who deserve it," she declared in her whispered voice. "It will only make their pain last longer."

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Lawrence held the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. He should not get this angry so early in the morning…

"Are they going to be punished? Mike and Fritz, I mean?" the janitor wanted to know, her voice not showing any hint of concern as to the fate of the two night guards.

The man's eyes narrowed. "I can't fire them, and they're already getting minimum wage, so _no_ …" he grunted, though it was obvious he was not going to forget about this mishap that easily.

Mira blinked. "It will get better, Mr. Richards," she said. "The truth is almost out. Soon everything will go back to how it was in the beginning."

"You mean before it all went to hell," Lawrence spat. "Who would have thought that _I_ , of all people, would be managing this place…" He looked around at the dark faded walls of the pizzeria, lost in painful memories of a time he preferred would be left buried in the depths of his mind forever. "The place that took away so much…"

He looked at Mira, who was staring at him with her piercing blue eyes.

"I promise you," she started. "You will see them again. It all depends on you."

Lawrence sighed. "Yeah… one day… If things get better, who knows…?"

Mira seemed to decide the conversation had lasted long enough and stepped towards the dining hall to rearrange some tables. For some reason the animatronics had messed around with it during the night.

The manager watched for a while. He felt a light breeze go through his hair, almost caressing it. A gentle caress, which he recognized all too well, and still made his heart ache. He could almost hear her comfort him…

" _Tomorrow is another day…"_

* * *

 **[A/N - So it turns out there is more to the manager than meets the eye** **:3]**


	2. Chapter 1 - In Laws

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Five Nights at Freddy's" or its characters.**

* * *

A loud sneeze was heard coming from the living room. Slightly startled by it, Claire peeked out the kitchen to look at the couch where her boyfriend was sitting in.

"God bless you," she said.

"Yeah, I wouldn't count on it…"

Mike rubbed his nose roughly, staring at the TV. Someone was talking about him… and it didn't feel like it was a good thing.

He wasn't actually paying attention to the movie that was playing on TV – something about a group of animals returning home? – so he was simply staring at the screen absent-mindedly while he thought about all the things he had gone through in the last couple of weeks.

His shoulder gets injured, he almost gets killed by Shadow Bonnie, he has weird dreams and hallucinations about dead kids and other dubious clues he still had to figure out the meaning of… and then he goes back to work at the pizzeria that caused it all with a partner who _somehow_ managed to convince him to change the robots' AI, which almost got them both killed. No one should have to go through all that shit is just two weeks… The least they could do is give him a goddamn raise!

Though, Mike knew that he was lucky to even have his job still. Lawrence could not be happy about the animatronics' AI being tampered with… Stupid Fritz. What was he thinking? On that note, what was _Mike_ thinking agreeing with that ridiculous plan? But, oh well, not use mourning about it now. For sure Lawrence would be able to get the robots back to normal… hopefully… That last night had been the most stressful night ever.

With their AIs set to maximum, the robots were relentless in their pursuits of the night guards. Sure, they had Golden Freddy to help them out, but even he could not keep the power from going down every time they had to close the doors. They somehow managed to not run out of power – Mike was sure there had been some miracle going on there – but even the ghostly bear was quite _un_ impressed with the two night guards.

" **Why did you think that changing their AI was ever a good idea?"** the bear asked, narrowing his eyes. **"Just stay in the office, where you should be"**

Even though he did not appreciate getting scolded by the ghost of a ten year old girl (since he now knew that Golden Freddy was actually this Rika he had seen in his dreams), he had to admit they _had_ been pretty stupid. Lesson learned – do not mess with things you don't know how to mess with, even if you're being guided by someone who _supposedly_ knows what he's doing. Especially if it had anything to do with the pizzeria.

Despite having a rough first day on the job, Fritz showed no intention of quitting. He wanted to help Mike, more now that he knew everything that was happening. Upon having seen Golden Freddy, it was not hard to convince the former technician that there was some serious haunting going on at the pizzeria. The golden ghost did not stick around to listen to Mike's long detailed explanation of all the clues he had gotten via "hallucinations" and dreams, instead keeping an eye on the elusive brown bear that was still very much capable of avoiding being caught on camera while Mike told Fritz all he knew. Or rather, all the things he was _yet_ to know.

Mike sighed. It would all be so much easier if whoever was giving him those clues would just outright tell him the truth. Why make it harder by forcing him to figure it out on his own? Well, now he had Fritz's help, but all the new night guard could really help him on was with information regarding the pizzeria from 1987, where he worked at. As for the first pizzeria, the one from 1977 where "that tragedy" took place, he didn't have much information going on. They would have to do some serious digging…

But not today. Because today Mike was going to face something else before going to work. Something that would get most men quivering in fear – dinner with his girlfriend's family.

Not that he hadn't met them before – in five years of dating that would be quite a feat. But he dreaded the inevitable questions that they would make, like how is work, how much money he makes, _is he intending on proposing to her anytime soon…_

'… _I think I'd rather take my chances with the robots…'_ he thought, gulping.

Well, it could be worse. If Claire was Lawrence's daughter, for example. That would be _awful_ …Imagine having _him_ as a father-in-law! That would be the end of Mike Schmidt for sure…

"You are not panicking over dinner tonight again, are you?" Claire inquired sharply, appearing next to him as if out of thin air.

He looked at her and blinked. "Of course not…!" He coughed, trying to appear at ease. "Why would I, it's not like they're going to eat me alive. Heh… Heh…"

Claire snorted. "C'mon, you make it sound worse than it is. My parents adore you."

"No, _my_ parents adore you," the night guard corrected. "Your parents just… do their best to deal with it…" He could not imagine any parents being happy with their daughter dating someone who makes minimum wage and is somehow always involved in trouble.

"Oh you are such a drama queen," Claire accused, which got Mike to look at her with an offended expression. "Everything is going to be fine."

They didn't notice there was something watching them from the window, tilting its head. Something with shimmering feathers, that had gone unnoticed for the last couple of minutes.

 _Chirp chirp~_

* * *

"Claire, sweetie!"

A tall and slender blonde woman opened her arms with a happy smile. She held her daughter tightly.

"Hi, mom," Claire greeted, hugging back her mother.

Claire's father, a bulky man with short brown hair, smiled at the two blondes from a wheel chair. "Good to see you again, dear. Now where is the boy? He didn't run away did he?" he chuckled.

"No, I'm here…" Mike muttered, awkwardly stepping inside the living room of the Shepherd family.

Even though they were not rich, Claire's parents could not complain of lack of money. Neither of them was working anymore: Claire's father, Owen, had been in a wheel chair for nearly a decade after a bad accident at work got him to lose movement in his legs; as for his wife, Melissa, she dropped her job to attend to her husband and be her fulltime caretaker. They did get a nice amount of money from insurances though, so they were well-off as far as money went.

After an awkward handshake with Owen (who refused to allow Mike to call him 'sir' or 'Mr. Shepherd', assuring that just 'Owen' was fine), they were led to the dining room, where the table was already set and the food was ready.

Mike spent most of the dinner exchanging small talk with Claire and her parents and acting like his mind wasn't elsewhere. Even though he was supposed to try and get to know Claire's parents better at the moment, he felt so awkward and uncomfortable that the only way for him to not look like he was sitting on needles was to focus on something else. Unfortunately for him, the only other thing that was going on in his life other than Claire was the pizzeria – as much as it hurt to admit.

He felt like he was getting obsessed with it. There was a hardly a time when he didn't think about all the things that were going on at Freddy Fazbear's. There were too many weird things going on, and it could not be a coincidence that it befell on him to figure it all out. Especially considering he had to "remember" something, whatever that was. Something happened to him that related to the pizzeria… but what? He looked at the hand where that mysterious scar was. Up until that point he had never given it that much thought – it was just a scar – but now he was questioning everything. He now at least knew the exact date of when he got the scar: 26th June of 1977. His parents had told him, both seeming quite bewildered at him making them questions about something that had taken place so long ago. Not that it gave him that much information until he researched that day and figured out if anything strange had happened.

The night guard sighed and looked up from his meal, realizing he hadn't eaten much yet. He adjusted himself on his seat and motioned to get a drink, when he noticed something on the window. Right behind Claire, staring at him. A bird. The golden bird that had visited him at the hospital.

"Goldie?" he muttered, the hand holding his glass twitching.

"What?" Claire asked, looking at him quizzically.

Mike blinked and looked at her. "Uh…"

"Right you are, son," Owen said, smiling in approval as he picked up the bottle of wine from which everyone save for Claire was drinking. " _'Golden's Ram',_ often called _'Goldie'_. Good to see someone still appreciates the classics."

"Oh y-yeah, it's uh, a great wine," Mike stammered, nodding at Owen awkwardly. He glanced at the window again. The bird was gone.

Claire frowned and followed his gaze towards the window.

"Now to you, Mike," Melissa started, smiling.

"Sorry, what?"

"We've been talking about Claire's work for a while. Why don't you tell us more about _your_ job?" Claire's mother clarified."Our daughter told us you're a security guard now."

Ah crap – one of the very issues he wanted to avoid talking about…

He scratched his neck. "Yeah…" he confirmed, while Claire's frowned slightly. "Um, I work the night shift at, uh, Freddy Fazbear's. You must have heard of it…"

For a second, it looked to Mike as if both Owen and Melissa were stunned by hearing the name of the place he worked at, and their expressions darkened slightly. It only lasted for a second, however, as they went back to their normal, pleasant dispositions exceptionally fast.

"A-ah, I see… Yes, I've heard quite a bit about that place," Melissa admitted, whilst Claire went back to eating, apparently preferring to not take place in the conversation anymore.

This was all very weird, but Mike assumed they were just apprehensive because of all the rumors that surrounded that place. He had gotten a similar reaction from his own parents when he told them where he'd start working after all.

"And do you, um, do you enjoy working there?" Melissa wanted to know.

"Well… Yeah, I guess." Mike shrugged, looking at the window again, just to make sure Goldie wasn't back there looking at him. "It's not that bad… Not a lot of money, but it's good for now."

Owen nodded. "We gotta start somewhere, don't we son?" He drank a bit of his wine and smiled at Mike. "I remember my first job was as a paperboy for old Ackerford," he informed, shivering slightly. "Scary old man, that one. Gave you this _stare_ … How's your boss? Heard he's quite something himself."

Mike gulped. "Yeah, Lawrence – uh, I mean, _Mr. Richards_ is… Well, he's difficult, and let's leave it at that…" Biggest understatement ever.

Owen chuckled. "I hear you, son. Bosses have that effect on us newbies," he said. "Don't worry, once he knows he can rely on you things will get easier."

'… _That's never going to happen…'_ Mike thought to himself sadly.

"Your parents must be very proud," Melissa said, unaware that Mike was laughing at that in his mind. _Yeah right…_ "It's obvious that you're trying hard to earn your own."

' _Oh, you have no idea…'_

Melissa sighed. "Though, I have to admit… working at Freddy Fazbear's," she started. "Your parents must be concerned. There are a lot of stories surrounding that place…"

Mike knew all of that already, so he said nothing. Instead he looked at Claire, who seemed to be the one feeling uncomfortable now. Figures, even Claire didn't like the idea of Mike working at the pizzeria, so no wonder she didn't look happy.

"… I'm surprised it's even open still," Melissa continued. "Our son loved working th…"

She suddenly stopped talking. Mike looked up at her and saw she now looked slightly startled for some reason.

Claire's expression had gotten strangely dark in just a couple of seconds. She stood up and left the dining room without a word.

Mike looked back-and-forth between Claire's now empty chair and Melissa, who was still trying to regain her composure. What had just happened? Melissa was about to make some comments regarding their son – their _deceased_ son. Mike had heard from Claire that she had an older brother once, but that he had died when she was fourteen. He didn't know the full story behind his death – hell, he didn't even know his name – but he never questioned his girlfriend about it either. He could tell it was a hard subject on her, even though it had been around eight or nine years since he had died. But it was kind of surprising to hear that he had worked at Freddy Fazbear's once – at least that's what Melissa was saying, it seemed. Maybe that was part of why Claire didn't want him working there…

Owen cleared his throat. "Let's not talk about work anymore, uh? Way too boring of a subject during dinner, I think," he asked with fake cheerfulness. "Go check on Claire, Melissa. I'm just going to bother Mike here with some _exhilarating_ life stories of mine. Got plenty to tell."

Mike watched Claire's mother leave the table to go check on her daughter, and was only vaguely aware of what Owen was saying to him. Why did Claire always get so upset and secretive about her brother? Why didn't she tell him that he had worked at Freddy's too once? He could only hope that she wouldn't be somehow involved in the history of the pizzeria too… God, that's just what he needed… _His worlds were colliding…_

* * *

Mike grunted to himself, angrily checking his watch for the fifth time as he stood outside Freddy Fazbear's. He was – yet again – waiting for his partner to get to the pizzeria, and said partner was – _yet again_ – late.

After the most awkward dinner in the history of awkward was over, Mike and Claire returned home, where the blonde's overly cheerful disposition make it clear that she was not going to answer any questions regarding her reaction towards the mention of her brother. Mike swallowed all of the questions he had, as such, and allowed her her space. Didn't mean he wouldn't try and look into it later. He didn't have a lot of time to focus on the mysteries behind Claire's deceased brother, however, as by the time he got out of her parents' house it was already eleven o'clock. It was almost time to go back to work again…

Almost immediately once he checked his watch, a car parked next to his, and a brown-haired grinning man stepped outside, holding something behind his back as he adjusted his tie.

He waved in greeting. "Hey, sorry I'm -"

"Late," Mike hissed to complete his sentence. "Didn't I tell you to be here at half past eleven?"

Fritz finished adjusting his tie as he approached Mike. "I know, I know, sorry. But she was pretty insistent for another…"

"Don't care," Mike interrupted. "Let's just go in, al… right?" He paused, glancing at the hand Fritz had behind his back with a frown. He could have sworn he saw flowers… "Fritz… What is that?"

Fritz' grin got wider as he revealed what he was hiding. A large bouquet of flowers. "For our lovely janitor, Mira," he clarified, to answer Mike's puzzled expression. He then sniffed the flowers, with an expression of glee. "Ah I was unable to find flowers that matched her beauty but I did my best…"

Mike could only stare at the flowers, too dumbfounded to be able to articulate speech properly. Deciding not to make any further comment, he simply turned his back on his partner and opened the door of the pizzeria to get inside.

He did not expect things to turn out like this when he convinced Fritz to take the job offer and become the other night guard. Now he was all over Mira, even though the medium was quite clearly not interested. He even got her flowers…! Then again, he probably got flowers for all his _lady friends_ …

Maybe he should get flowers for Claire too…

* * *

 **[A/N - Yes, Mike. Yes you should.**

 **More secrets ~]**


	3. Chapter 2 - Jeremy Fitzgerald

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Five Nights at Freddy's" or its characters.**

* * *

"What's with the dark expression? I think we're doing pretty well, considering."

Mike glanced at his partner, and then back at the tablet. "It's nothing," he said curtly. He didn't feel like explaining all of his worries at the moment. "And we're only doing well because the mechanic reverted their AI to minimum – you know, the _actual_ mechanic who _actually_ knows what he's doing."

Fritz looked at Mike with a slightly annoyed look. "I know what I'm doing – weren't you the one who said that something else messed with the system to change their AI to max?" he retorted. "So don't blame me…"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say; I can't believe that we still have this job," Mike confessed. "I thought for sure Lawrence was going to break some necks once he found out…"

"You see, it all worked out," Fritz said cheerfully. "I told you our boss liked you."

"Humpf."

The night guard reached for the button on his right to close the door without a word. The yellow animatronic chicken was outside, leering at the two guards.

The night was almost over, and since the animatronics were acting pretty much the same they did on his first night ever on the job, he felt like everything was going rather smoothly and he didn't feel stressed at all. If only every night went like that…

The only reason why he felt slightly apprehensive was due to the weird dinner he had some hours ago with Claire's family. Her brother had worked at Freddy's… He didn't think it was weird that she hadn't shared it with him; after all, she always reacted badly whenever her deceased sibling was brought up in a conversation. But considering how Mike was ready to investigate any oddity that had occurred in his life, assuming it would have something to do with the ominous pizzeria, then maybe the same applied to his girlfriend…

"Fritz," he called.

The other guard didn't look away from left door, which he was watching in case Bonnie decided to show up there again. "Yeah?"

"Who were those two other people you knew from when you worked at the pizzeria?" he asked. "You mentioned that you only had three people you could turn to when Francis asked you to gather people…"

Fritz turned to Mike once he closed the left door on the robotic bunny's face. "Why do you want to know? I already told you, none of them can help…"

"I know, but where were their names?"

"Well, the one that died was Matt. Mattheus O'Vancey," Fritz said. "He was the day guard. Well, actually he worked the night shift for a week but then he got transferred…"

"How did he die?" Mike wanted to know. Hopefully not by getting stuffed into a suit… He wasn't sure if that was the robots' MO back in 87 as well.

Fritz frowned. "He went missing." He sighed. "They found evidence of a struggle and no one ever saw Matt since. They thought it was the one who killed those kids in 87 that got Matt. Maybe he figured out something…"

Mike nodded. Well, that was one employee of Freddy's that died. But that guy couldn't be Claire's brother – they didn't have the same last name. That and he died in 87; from what he knew, Claire's brother died in 1984. The pizzeria wasn't even open by then, now that Mike thought about it, so maybe his death had nothing to do with the pizzeria after all…

"As for the other guy, like I told you already, he's in a mental hospital. Been there since… some time after the Bite," Fritz informed. "A week or so, I think."

"What did he do at Freddy's?"

"Worked the night shift," Fritz declared. "Then, when Matt went missing, he was transferred to day shift. He was there when the Bite happened. I think it was too much for him to handle."

Man, it sounded like whenever a night shift guard got switched to day shift, bad things happened. Maybe it was better if Mike stayed on the night shift… Not that he was any safer there, come to think about it.

"So… he went crazy, is that what happened?"

Fritz stared at the poster of the three main animatronic that was fixated on the wall for a while. "That's what they say," he replied somberly.

Mike frowned. "And you…?"

"It doesn't matter what I think. They're the experts," the other guard said. "But now that I know that this place is actually haunted, it makes me think… that maybe Jeremy was not seeing things…"

"Jeremy…? That's the name of that guy that's on the mental hospital?"

Fritz nodded. "Yeah, Jeremy Fitzgerald. He said he saw someone called 'Gift Girl', a female version of Balloon Boy of sorts, and some 'Shadow Freddy' thing…"

Mike's eyes widened slightly. 'Shadow Freddy'? That could not be a coincidence, considering he knew a Shadow _Bonnie_. Those two had to be related somehow.

"What did he say about Shadow Freddy?" Mike inquired eagerly.

His partner scratched his head. "He didn't say too much, at least not to me. Most of what he told the doctors was just taken as him hallucinating due to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or whatever…" he explained. "What I _do_ know is that he said they were both helping him during his shift. On warding off the robots, I mean," he clarified. "Kinda like how Golden Freddy is helping us."

Mike was looking at the desk with a thoughtful look. So Shadow Freddy, whoever he was, was helpful – unlike Shadow Bonnie. And this "Gift Girl" too.

"Wait, who was Balloon Boy again?" Mike asked, not really remembering the details that Fritz had shared with him about the robots from 87.

Fritz grunted. "A prick whose greatest joy was to make the staff's day a living hell, that's who," he ranted. "He was supposed to hand out balloons to the kids, but when he was _not_ doing that, he was teaching them cuss words he heard from teens and messing up everything…"

"Hm. So who was Gift Girl?"

"No idea," Fritz admitted. "I asked the management if there was ever a Gift Girl amongst the robots, but they didn't know anything about it."

Noticing Mike's skeptic stare, he shrugged. "Either that, or they were covering the whole thing up. Knowing Jack Anderson, this option is probably the most likely explanation."

Mike didn't say anything for a while, but finally nodded once he spotted Chica approaching the office again. "We should pay this Jeremy a visit then."

Fritz frowned. "We should…?"

"Definitely," Mike said firmly. "Didn't you say that now that you know about the haunting, then that guy was probably saying the truth all this time?" He closed the right door casually. "Think about it – if we said anything about Golden Freddy and the ghosts of children haunting the robots, then people would think we were crazy too and we'd probably be joining Jeremy on the madhouse."

His partner made a look that clearly read "Well, when you put things like that…", but didn't say a word.

Mike went on. "We are the only ones who know he was speaking the truth. Wouldn't hurt to go see the guy and, you know, show him that he's not crazy and we can help him…"

"I don't see how we can help him, Mike," Fritz muttered. "Sure, we can go talk with him, but it's not like we can get him out of the mental hospital. Not without proof that he was telling the truth…"

"I know, but… Look, we'll just go visit him and then we'll decide what to do, alright?"

Fritz stared at him for a while, and then he finally nodded in agreement.

This was the right thing to do. Mike could not even begin to imagine what it must have been like for this Jeremy Fitzgerald to be locked up in an asylum for five whole years, accused of being mentally unstable when, in reality, he was perfectly sane and was telling the truth all along. Maybe in this time he had actually gone crazy… wouldn't surprise him, to be honest. Mike had to do what he could to help that guy – he had been another victim of Freddy's, and one that was still within his helping reach. With luck, he and Fritz would find a way to get Jeremy out of that asylum and then maybe he would be able to get better and help them out as well. Who knows? He could have some information that would aid them in their quest to solve the mysteries of Freddy Fazbear's… all with him having seen those "Gift Girl" and "Shadow Freddy" characters, whoever they were…

* * *

The next day, as Mike walked through the hallways of the old mental hospital, following after a maternal-looking nurse and being accompanied by Fritz, the night guard had to admit that it wouldn't be too hard for anyone sane to go crazy after just a few days of being locked in that place.

The walls were white once, he supposed, but now they were a dirty gray and some bits of the painting was falling off. His ears were filled with the noise of chattering and the constant rambles of patients that were nearby, some screaming for their lives while some were only sharing pleasantries with imaginary friends, and a soft humming noise that he wasn't quite sure where it was coming from. The ambience was oppressive. Looking at the patients only made him feel pity and a hint of discomfort – their hairs were unkempt, some even missing hair on the spot where they pulled it off; their eyes, empty and unfocused, darted from one place to another at an alarming speed; and some shook so hard that they almost looked like they were having a seizure.

"Couldn't they have found a more depressing place to put him in?" he asked in a whisper to Fritz.

Fritz shared a look of complicity with him that showed he agreed, but still smiled gently when a forty-something year old female patient with long curly hair approached him with a hopeful expression.

"Marvin?" she called, tugging his shirt. She was obviously having delusions, and mistaking Fritz for someone.

"Uh, ma'am, that's not…" Mike started, but Fritz cut him off by hushing him with his hand without even looking at him, like some kind of ninja-hush.

"Yes, that's me," he confirmed, still smiling as he nodded.

The woman smiled brightly, though her eyes were still oddly empty and so wide that she looked as demented as she probably was. "You came to see me! I knew you'd come to see me!" She turned to the motherly-looking nurse, who had stopped walking to watch her closely. "I told you he'd come back – my husband is here, see?"

The nurse nodded with a pleased expression. "Yes, you were right all along, Velma." She then smiled at Fritz and mouthed a "thank you" that only the two night guards could see. "Aren't you happy, dear?"

"I'm sorry I took so long, dear," the tanned man apologized, then hugging the woman tightly, while another nurse, a younger one, walked up to them to take Velma away. "I promise I'll be back soon to visit you again."

The younger nurse took Velma's hand and then proceeded to lead her back to where the other patients were. Velma waved happily to her "husband" all the way.

Fritz turned back to Mike, and his eyebrows arched at the latter's slightly bewildered expression. "What?"

"Nothing," Mike said quickly, turning back to follow the maternal nurse.

Well, that was a surprise. Mike knew that his partner would go into "flirting" mode whenever he saw a good-looking woman (as he had with two nurses that had greeted him at the entrance of the hospital…), but he didn't think that he would have that kind of reaction when being approached by that woman. He was positively surprised. He was almost expecting him to jump back and be grossed out at the prospect of having someone ugly and insane get near him – and now he felt like a jerk for thinking that little of his partner. He _was_ a good person in reality.

The nurse finally stopped in front of a door that looked very much alike all the others they had seen so far. It had only a small window on top, rectangular, from which they could see the room if they stood on their toes.

"This is his room," the nurse announced. "Jeremy Fitzgerald. If he starts talking with his friend, Gift Girl, pay it no mind," she requested. "It's best to keep him calm for now – we had a rough morning with him."

"How rough?" Mike asked, feeling slightly apprehensive as he looked at the white door in front of him.

The nurse sighed. "Just keep him calm."

The two guards looked at each other, and Mike was relieved to see he was not the only one who looked worried.

The nurse opened the door and waited for them to go inside. Once Mike stepped inside, he felt like he should leave immediately, but that was impossible as the nurse closed the door behind them. He had expected Jeremy's room to be relatively normal, considering he wasn't actually crazy. But that's not what he was seeing.

The room, white and padded like all the others, had the walls covered with sheets of paper in which someone – he guessed Jeremy – had drawn a girl with her hair tied in pigtails and holding balloons in her hand. The balloons were replaced by a pair of bloody scissors in one drawing in particular, where the girl smirked evilly. Amongst the drawings were some newspaper clippings, all regarding Freddy Fazbear's. The walls had some scratch marks along the side of the bed.

Mike gulped. Maybe they were too late – it seemed the asylum had actually managed to make Jeremy go crazy.

The occupant of the room was standing on a corner of the room, his arms crossed as he looked at the two night guards with a furrowed brow. Mike had to hold back a gasp – he had seen him before! In the "haunted TV"; he was the guard he saw watch over the kids dismantling Mangle. He had the same sandy hair and grey eyes behind a pair of glasses, though his stare was somewhat colder than what he remembered.

"Hi, Jeremy," Fritz greeted, looking more worried now that he was actually seeing his old co-worker. "You… know who I am, right?"

"Fritz," Jeremy muttered in response, still leaning on the corner of the wall with intent, as if he wanted to merge with it. His left eye twitched along with his shoulder. "Fritz Smith. I remember you. What are you doing here?"

"Well, before we get to that, there's someone I want you to meet." He gestured towards Mike. "This is Mike Schmidt – he's a night guard at Freddy Fazbear's. Actually, we're both night guards there now."

Jeremy looked at Mike with an alarmed expression, his eye twitching again. Must be a tic he got while at the asylum. "Why?"

Mike blinked. "'Why' what?"

"Why are you a night guard there?" Jeremy inquired, turning his gaze towards the floor beneath him. "That pizzeria… i-it's a bad place…" He shivered.

"The pizzeria isn't bad," Mike retorted. "What's bad is what happened there. And that's why we're here." He gestured towards the newspaper clippings Jeremy had exposed on the walls. "I see you've been following the news about Freddy's."

Jeremy nodded, but avoided looking at the walls, his stare glued on the floor. He was still shivering, as if he was getting scared just by being reminded of the pizzeria, and his shoulder twitched again.

"So you know about the… night guards that died there, supposedly? I mean, there are a lot of rumors about it…"

"Five," Jeremy said suddenly, still not looking up. He gulped. "Five guards went missing, and were n-never found. There are others who stopped going to work, but those are fine."

"Looks like you're well informed." Mike raised an eyebrow. How could he know those specific details while being locked there?

The mental patient's shoulder twitched more violently. "M-my mom is an editor at the local newspaper…" he informed. "She brings me the newspaper every w-week, and tells me stuff…"

Mike nodded. "Right… So, about the pizzeria from 87…"

"I don't want to talk about it," Jeremy interrupted, still determined to never look at the two night guards again, apparently. "It's all in my head… it's all in my head…"

Fritz and Mike shared a look of worry. They were going to have to be very careful about how they approached the issue.

"Jeremy, why don't you tell us about that friend of yours?" Fritz suggested, trying to lighten up the conversation. "That 'Gift Girl' you mentioned; is she nice?"

The sandy-haired man looked at a spot above Fritz's head, and both his eyes twitched. "S-she's here…" he breathed. "She's right there…" He pointed at spot that, as far as the two guards could see, was empty.

Mike frowned, but Fritz nodded. "I'm sorry, but it doesn't look like she wants me to see her," he commented. "Is she shy?"

Jeremy shook his head. "No, no… She says…" He paused, as if he was actually listening to someone telling him something. "She says she can't risk having someone else go through what I a-am…" His lips twitched into a small smile. "She's m-my only friend…"

And there comes the sadness again. Mike scratched his head awkwardly, feeling like the sooner they got Jeremy out of that loony bin, the better.

"Does she look like this?" Mike questioned, pointing at the drawings.

"Y-yeah," Jeremy confirmed, nodding, though he didn't look at the drawings Mike pointed at. He then looked up at Mike with a confused expression. "Have… have y-you met Rika?"

The night guard was surprised by that question. "Have _you_ met her?"

"She wanted to help…" Jeremy muttered, his eyes darting back to the floor. "S-she worries too much – it's what Gift Girl always said… She wanted to help, but it forced her… it forced her to…" He gulped. "… come after me…"

Mike knew what Jeremy was talking about. Golden Freddy – aka Rika – had told him that the Puppet had forced her to go after Fritz on the one day he worked the night shift by forcefully trapping her inside the Golden Freddy suit (which still existed in 1987). Before that happened, Rika must have tried to help Jeremy the best she could, just like he was helping Mike and Fritz now.

"She interfered…" Jeremy kept ranting. "… She shouldn't have messed with it… l-like me…" His shoulder twitched violently.

"Messed with what?" Mike wanted to know.

"Fate," Jeremy whispered, as if saying the name out loud would bring about unimaginable consequences. "I messed with fate… I s-saved him… so someone else got hurt… now the same thing will happen again…"

This time, Mike felt lost. He didn't know what Jeremy was going on about. "Messing with fate"? What did could that mean?

"Look, Jeremy," he called firmly, forcing the mental patient to finally look up at him. "We know you were telling the truth, alright? We know Gift Girl and Shadow Freddy are real."

Jeremy blinked in confusion, not looking relieved at all. "Y… you've seen them?"

"No," Mike admitted. "No, I haven't, but I saw Rika. She looks like Golden Freddy now. I've also seen, um…" He cleared his throat, feeling aggravated by having to talk about that jerk. "… Shadow Bonnie."

At the mention of that name, Jeremy's eyes widened. "He's back…?" he gasped. "He's back?! Oh God… Oh God, oh God, oh God…"

He sat on the floor abruptly, covering his head and rocking back and forth, muttering something to himself over and over under his breath.

Mike looked at Fritz nervously, wondering if he had said something wrong. Jeremy's reaction could only mean one thing – he had seen Shadow Bonnie before as well.

"Jeremy, it's alright, just calm down," Fritz said as comfortingly as he could, approaching the sandy-haired man with a cautious step and bending over to his level. "It's alright. Shadow Bonnie is not here."

Jeremy took his hands away from his head, hugging his knees instead, but kept wobbling. "I'm safe… I'm alright…"

"Exactly." Fritz nodded. "Now… We need you to tell us if you've seen Shadow Bonnie before…"

It took some time, but Jeremy finally nodded, looking as if he was about to cry. "That day… the Bite… h-he was there…" He sniffed. " _Laughing_ …"

Figures. Mike could see Shadow Bonnie absolutely _loving_ to see some innocent person getting attacking by one of the animatronics.

"He's at the pizzeria now," Mike said, to which Jeremy looked up at him, fear all over his face. "We know that the kids that died in 1977 are controlling the robots, but we have to find out who killed them so we can help them…"

Jeremy shook his head. "No." His eye twitched again as he stood up, shivering. "You can help them… go a-ahead… but I'm not leaving…"

Mike frowned. "What do you mean 'you're not leaving'?" he asked, surprised at hearing Jeremy say something like that. "You can't be telling me that you _like_ it here?"

"I'm safe here," Jeremy stated, making his way past the night guards and towards the door. "N-nothing can get to me here… But if I go outside…" He closed his eyes and shook his head again. "I can't go back there…! I can't go back there!"

Fritz turned to him, trying to calm him down. "We won't take you to the pizzeria, Jeremy, promise." He gave Mike a warning look, noticing how the night guard was getting increasingly more frustrated with Jeremy's unwillingness to cooperate. "But it's not fair that you stay here, is it? I mean, you've been telling the truth all along, and yet people think you're crazy. You don't belong here…"

"I'm not leaving," Jeremy hissed, punching a button on the wall right next to the door. It was probably the button used to call for a nurse or something. "I'm not leaving…!"

"So you're telling me," Mike started, shoving Fritz aside and stepping towards the ex-night guard, eyeing with an accusatory stare. "That you know that the kids are trapped in the robots, you know that they will keep going after guards thinking they're his killer and you _don't care_?"

Jeremy didn't answer him, instead choosing to stare back at the floor, his shoulder twitching again.

Mike went on, ignoring Fritz, who was trying to hush him. "You're willing to stay here, while other people are suffering, while those _kids_ are suffering," he growled. "And while their killer is still out there, you just sit here comfortably doing nothing! You're a coward!"

"Mike," Fritz warned.

"Yeah, I am," Jeremy said, looking up at Mike with a firm look. "I've always b-been one, so I won't be changing now. You know where it got me – trying to help those kids?" He gestured at the ceiling and walls of his room. "Here; that's where it got me. I tried to help, and all I got was almost being chewed on by a robot and people thinking I've gone nuts. So go ahead and keep following around ghosts – maybe you'll end up in the room next to mine."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was willing to stay locked up in a loony bin just to be safe, even if everyone else was having a hard time? He was willing to abandon people that needed help, if it meant that he was safe and sound, distanced from reality and harshness of the real world? When he compared that to the reality that, say, Rika slash Golden Freddy was having, it made the sandy-haired man look pathetic in comparison. How would he react if he was stuck as a ghost, forced to watch his friends go after innocent people day after day?

"What the fuck is wrong with –"

"Mike." Fritz held his arm to prevent him from storming towards Jeremy. He did not look upset by what was happening, instead looking very serious and calm. "We're done. Let's go."

Mike looked back his partner furiously. "But this guy – _this guy_ – he's just going to sit here -"

"Yes, he is," Fritz stated. "We're wasting time here. Let him be. He made his choice."

The door of the room opened, and the maternal-looking nurse was back. She nodded at them. "Time to leave, boys."

Mike stomped past Jeremy, exiting the room, with Fritz right behind him. Just as the nurse was about to close the door, Mike turned around to face Jeremy again, who looked like he was getting ready to spend the rest of the day lying on his bed.

"You say you've met Rika before," he grunted. "So you know what that girl has been doing. She never gave up; she tried to help you out when you were working the night shift, trying to keep you safe, then Fritz, and now me. Ever since she died, she has done nothing but look after others." He then looked at the ex-guard up and down with disgust. "Even those who wouldn't do the same for her. She's only ten years old, but she's a braver and better person than you could ever hope to be."

Jeremy's eye twitched.

Without anything else to day, Mike resumed walking out of the mental hospital, hoping that he would never have to talk with that guy ever again. He couldn't waste his time with the likes of him.


	4. Chapter 3 - Through the Eyes of a Child

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Five Nights at Freddy's" or its characters.**

* * *

Mike was in a bad mood during dinner.

Claire knew that he had gone with his new partner, Fritz, to go see some guy that had worked the night shift at the pizzeria some years ago, and from what she could tell, it hadn't gone so well. For the life of her, she could not understand why her boyfriend was so persistent on figuring out whatever mysteries there were at the pizzeria, but if something was upsetting him, she wanted to know about it.

"Um… Mike?" she called timidly, as Mike sliced the beef he had in his plate with such vigorous fury it almost flew off the table. "Is everything alright?"

"Peachy," he grunted, munching on his food like a wild beast.

The blonde girl took a glance at Mike's cousins, who were both staring at the night guard. Lily seemed somewhat worried about whatever was leaving Mike so aggravated; Eddie, on the other hand, was wrinkling his nose as if he smelled something bad. Kind of hypocritical of him to judge Mike on his poor table manners, considering how the eight year old behaved the first time he had dinner there.

"You know, whatever happened, it's not the food's fault," Claire reminded, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.

Mike showed no sign of even listening to her as he kept chewing his food with a glare directed at no one in particular. He was angry – and for good reason.

He just couldn't believe the words that had escaped Jeremy Fitzgerald's mouth. He was not going to help – in fact, he was not going to even bother to try and leave that loony bin. No. He was perfectly fine with staying there the rest of his life it meant he was safe and sound. He could not understand that way of thinking; to him that was just a coward's way of escaping reality and avoiding problems.

Fritz himself admitted he was not expecting that kind of reaction from the ex-guard. The other guard was hoping Jeremy would be thrilled to get out of there, but he was dealing with his disappointment and surprise in a much calmer way than Mike, naturally. He simply shrugged and said something along the lines of:

"Oh well, it's not like we need him anyway. You and I make a great team; even our names look great together! Look – Smith and Schmidt."

Mike remembered vaguely that he wondered why Fritz's name came first before deciding to act like he never heard that remark from his partner while he turned away to leave.

"Did someone from the police call today?" Mike asked, trying to take his mind away from the extremely frustrating afternoon he just had.

Claire immediately brightened up, happy to see her boyfriend was _finally_ willing to engage in conversation with them. "As matter of fact, they did," she replied. "It seems like this Derek fellow is not very popular around the neighborhood they live in. The neighbors were very quick to testify about how they kept hearing yells and arguing from their house." She looked at the two siblings they were watching over with a kind expression. "You two won't have to go back to living with him. But you'll have to testify…"

"Will that put him to jail?" Eddie wanted to know.

Claire nodded. "I'm pretty sure it will…"

Eddie's eyes narrowed. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Eddie," Lily warned.

"You calling Claire a liar, brat?" Mike growled, before he could control himself.

The eight year old boy glared back at Mike. "As far as I know, all adults are liars." And with that, he stood up and stomped towards the room Claire had arranged for the siblings, barely having eaten anything.

Lily followed him quickly, apologizing quietly to Claire.

Claire turned an accusatory look towards Mike. "Was that really necessary?" she hissed.

Mike blinked. "What? He was calling you -"

"He has trust issues, Mike. Yelling at him won't make him more comfortable with us, it will make things worse," Claire explained patiently, like one who explains something complicated to a small child.

"Oh so we're supposed to just let him talk however he wants to us?"

"No, but we have to keep our calm when talking to him," Claire sighed. "He wasn't treating just me as a liar – he has to learn that not all adults are like his stepdad, and we're not going to succeed by snapping at him."

Mike crosses his arms, leaning back on his chair, feeling like a kid getting scolded. God damnit, she was right. He shouldn't have yelled at the kid… He should probably go apologize… some other time. He was still upset about the afternoon he had spent. Maybe it would be better to take a nap before going to work, to clear his head.

* * *

Fritz looked at his partner carefully as they made their way towards the dining area of Freddy Fazbear's. "Still upset, eh?"

The night guard didn't bother to answer. Instead he simply grunted. That nap didn't help at all…

"That pretty much answers it," Fritz chuckled. "Worry not, soon we'll be graced with the presence of our sweet Mira Taylor, and all our concerns will vanish."

That finally got Mike to find some amusement and forget about the dark cloud of "upsetment" hovering over his head. "That only applies to you," he snorted. "And Mira's not exactly 'sweet'."

Fritz's amused expression got suddenly very serious. "Are you insulting my dear Mira? I'll have to challenge you to a duel if you dishonor her again."

Mike laughed loudly. "Wow, what are we, back in the Medieval Era?" he joked, though Fritz was still staring at him with narrowed eyes. "You cannot be serious. Fritz – this is Mira we're talking about. She's not a very… _warm_ person, that's all I'm saying. Kind of emotionless…"

"That's because she has endured a lot throughout her complicated life." He sighed dreamily. "Imagine having to deal with the ability of connecting with the dead, and raising two children whilst she was too but a teenager. She is a strong, beautiful woman who only needs someone who can melt the icy exterior to find the sweet girl that hides underneath… afraid to get hurt again…"

The night guard found no comments to that statement.

All he did was stare at Fritz in bewilderment for a few seconds, before realizing he had his mouth agape. He closed it promptly and resumed walking down the hall, followed by his partner, who was still staring into nothingness with a dreamy look.

Once they got to the dining area, they quickly spotted the janitor, Mira, cleaning the tables. She didn't look at them until they were right next to her.

"Hello," she greeted, in her usual whispered voice.

"My angel," Fritz swooned, bowing down and taking her hand to kiss it. "We meet again."

Mike managed to avoid rolling his eyes somehow. "Hey Mira. How are things today?"

Mira blinked, staring disinterested at Fritz for a second before turning to Mike. "Same as they were yesterday," she admitted. "Your night should be easy enough, considering you've already endured one with their AIs set to maximum." She sniffed, showing that she hadn't forgotten about the stupid idea they had on their seventh night. "Your purple nemesis has been kept at bay, also," she informed. "It seems he underestimated my abilities, and was not expecting me to be able to keep him out so easily."

The night guard chuckled. Yeah, he could imagine that. The first time he had seen Mira, he knew that despite her normal appearance, as far as spiritual power went, she was very strong. As long as she was there, they shouldn't have any problems with Shadow Bonnie.

"Say, Mira," Mike started, remembering something. "Have you seen something like a Shadow Freddy around here?"

"No, I have not," Mira replied. "Should I be expecting a visitation?"

Mike shook his head. "No, no… Well, I don't know if he'll show up here, I was just curious…"

* * *

"I cannot believe that we are here again. It's only been a couple of hours…"

"Stop whining. They need our help, so we're helping. Maybe they'll give us extra money…"

Fritz and Mike were back at the pizzeria, hours after their shift was over. It was afternoon, and after some good hours sleep and a good lunch, they had received a call from Lawrence asking if they could help Stewart out with a birthday they were having. Being as short on staff as the manager was, there wasn't much else they could do other than say "sure". Not like they were dreading their stay much – after all, the ghosts of the children didn't bother people during the day as far as they knew.

"This place sure has seen better days…" muttered Claire, who was looking up at the pizzeria with a heavy expression.

The blonde had her day off from work, and insisted on accompanying Mike to Freddy Fazbear's, much to the guard's surprise.

Mike looked at Claire. "You know, you didn't have to come with me," he reminded. "I can tell you don't like this place."

"It's not that… It's just…" She sighed. "Never mind; I was expecting to spend this afternoon with you, but since you've been asked to help, I might as well come with you. It's been a long while since I've been here…"

The three of them stepping inside the pizzeria, all six of their eyes being immediately drawn to the stage, where the three main animatronics were already performing.

Mike and Fritz already had enough of those robots during the night, so they didn't watch them for too long. They instead looked around to find the day guard. Claire, however, kept looking at the robots with the same heavy expression.

"Mike, Fritz, thank God."

A young guard, Steward, approached them with a relieved expression. "I almost thought I was gonna be left alone… I'm telling you – kids are _evil_. Don't care what others say, I'm never having kids as long as I have my sanity…"

Fritz grinned. "Easy there, Stu, the cavalry has arrived," he assured. "I'm sure it can't be that bad."

"Yeah? Well, be my guest – go and face the beasts." He gestured vaguely towards an area from which a lot of noise was coming from. "They must be tearing that cake apart by now…"

The other night guard didn't think twice before heading towards the noisy area Stewart had pointed out.

Mike couldn't help but admire his partner's guts. From the sounds of it, the kids were reenacting World War II back there. Hopefully Fritz wouldn't be one of the casualties…

Stewart took in a deep breath. "Well, I wish him luck. I'm telling you, one hour with those brats and I'm seriously considering retirement," Stewart grunted angrily.

Mike chuckled. "I'm sure he'll be fine." _Probably._ "So, what do you need me to do?"

"Oh, watch over them, will you?" He pointed at a group of young teens that were, at the moment, watching the robots' show. "They shouldn't be that much of a problem, but just in case… Man, I can't believe the kids are harder than the teens…"

The night guard nodded before looking at the teens he was supposed to watch, while the day guard hurried to watch over the other groups of children that were at the pizzeria. Freddy Fazbear's was having a busy day, which was rather unusual. Normally, the place was almost deserted, but that day it was packed with kids.

"You sure you're fine being on your own?" Mike asked to Claire. He got no answer.

Claire was still looking at the stage. She seemed almost hypnotized.

Mike waved a hand in front of her. "Earth to Claire."

She blinked and looked at him, slightly startled. "W-what?"

"That's my line," Mike said, raising an eyebrow. "Look, I already told you, you don't have to be here…"

"But I am," Claire retorted, smiling – though it felt a bit forced. "Don't worry about me. I'll find something to do."

Mike nodded, but it was with a very apprehensive look that he followed her as she made her way towards Mira, who was nearby arranging tables. She was probably going to engage in some girl-to-girl talk, one which he'd gladly stay out of.

Only when he recognized two of the teens that was sitting on the round table did he walk towards them.

The teens he recognized were very similar. They both had black hair and blue eyes – Mira's kids. He recalled that their names both started with "Z"…

"Hey, uh… Z… Zack?" he hesitated, tapping the black-haired boy's shoulder.

The boy looked back at him, and once he recognized him he smiled. "Oh, hi. Yeah, I'm Zach. You're Mr. Schmidt, right? The night guard?"

"Just 'Mike' is fine." He then looked at Zach's sister. "And you're Zoe…?"

The black-haired girl smiled as well. "Yep. What are you doing here? Are you working the day shift now?"

"No, just helping out for today," Mike explained, looking around. "It's busier than usual. Did your mom bring you guys here?"

The twins shook their head at the same time. "No," they said in unison.

Mike blinked. Creepy twin synchronization…

"Mommy is busy with work," Zoe added. "Zach and I just thought we'd come here with our friends to see the robots, and pay mom a visit while we're at it."

Mike the noticed Zach was looking at something with a frown. The night guard followed his gaze, but saw nothing.

"Something wrong, Zach?" he questioned.

The black-haired boy blinked and looked up at Mike. "No, everything's fine," he stated, taking a piece of cake he had in front of him. "It was just a golden bear that was watching the show. She's gone now."

"Golden bear?" Mike repeated, looking at the same corner Zach was looking at it again. "She was here?"

"You can see her?" Zach wanted to know.

Mike looked back at the twins. Zach was watching him curiously, while Zoe looked upset for some reason.

"Uh, not right now… But she shows up sometimes to help me during the night shift," the night guard explained. "So… you can see ghosts like your mom?"

Zach nodded. "I'm not very good at keeping them away when they're aggressive, like mom…" he admitted. "But I can see them. There are a lot of them here…"

"Yeah…" Mike looked around. He supposed that Zach could see the ghosts of the children that controlled the robots, along with Rika, using the appearance of Golden Freddy. "There should be like… four of them, plus the golden bear, right?"

Zach frowned. "I actually see ten of them, including the golden bear," he revealed. "Three are up on the stage, but they're not very…" He tilted his head, as if trying to see better. "… I mean, they're grey… That's usually bad news…"

"How bad?"

"It means that they've lost their touch with reality," Zoe explained, still looking annoyed. "At least that's what mommy explained to Zach. Of course, I wouldn't know," she grunted.

Mike looked at Zach.

Zach shrugged. "Zoe gets upset because she can't see ghosts like I do," he informed. "Honestly, I think that sometimes she's the lucky one."

Zoe made a "humph" sound before going back to watch the robots sing their usual songs, pouting.

"So who are the other ghosts?" Mike insisted.

Zach watched his sister for a while before deeming her a lost cause. He turned to Mike. "There's another ghost on Pirate Cove. He doesn't seem to be as lost as the others, but…" he explained. "Not sure… The other five ghosts are kids too, but they seem fine. They're just watching over the other kids here at the pizzeria, I think."

Mike nodded, and looked around again, though he knew he wasn't going to see those ghosts unless they wanted him to see them. So there were five other children there, harmless, apparently. He could handle that. And the child controlling Foxy was also being controlled… by who? Or what…?

"Ah it seems like some have easier tasks that others…" commented a cheerful voice he recognized as belonging to Fritz. The tanned man was approaching the table with the teens and Mike with a casual stride. He didn't look at all fazed by the "horrible creature from hell" Stewart had described as being the children he'd have to watch over.

"So, how were the little devils?" Mike asked.

Fritz shrugged, holding a sheet of paper in his hands. "Not that bad, honestly. You just have to know how to connect with them," he said, as if he was an expert in the matter. "They're calm now, playing with their toys. Look at this drawing one of them made me."

Mike took the sheet of paper Fritz handed out to him. It depicted five kids, all around a birthday cake with the number "10" on top of it. They were all crying, and while four where colored grey, the fifth one was white.

The night guard frowned. Could that mean what he thought it meant? He looked up at Fritz, who nodded as if he was thinking the same.

"Yeah, she drew that out of the blue," he muttered. "When I asked her who those kids were, she said, and I quote – 'They are the ones that never left'."

Mike sighed. He figured as much. Rika and her friends – that's who those kids were.

"Zach here can see them," Mike informed, nodding at the teen who was now trying to get his sister to talk to him again. "But he says there are five others. Harmless, from the looks of it. Maybe they're the ones that died in 87."

Fritz looked at Zach with a confused look. "Who's he?"

"Mira's son," Mike said. "He and his twin sister, Zoe, they're her kids." He opened his mouth to add their ages, but didn't say anything else.

Fritz was adjusting his tie and approaching the twins, completely ignoring Mike. Was he going to try and get the teens to like him, to fall on their mother's good graces? Sounded like something he'd do… Good grief…

He sighed. Time to find something else to do…

Right on cue, he saw Claire walk towards him with a much more pleased expression than the one she had previously when they walked in.

"So, how's helping duty?" she asked, holding his arm.

"Fine. You done bonding with Mira?"

Claire giggled. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," she joked. "She's an interesting one. And gorgeous! We should totally go out shopping one day."

"Sounds good. Fritz will probably be trying to go for the 'double date' scenario here then. Not sure if it will work…"

They both watched as the other guard talked with Mira's twin children. It looked like they were actually getting along just fine, judging from Zoe's laughter. Not that it would gain him any points with Mira though, at least not that Mike thought…

"Hm, she didn't seem all that interested in him when I asked her…" Claire admitted. "And honestly, the guy probably jumps from one girlfriend to another anyway…"

"MIKE!" came a yell from the area Fritz had been watching some minutes ago. "FRITZ! Hey – put that down! Kids, I'm warning you – GUYS, a little help would be appreciated here!"

 **CRASH**

Sounded like the kids had broken something big…

Mike groaned.

"Your services are required," Claire said, tapping his chest. "Go. Sounds like he needs all the help he can get."

Indeed, judging from the screams and laughter they were hearing, sounded like the kids were having a blast at tormenting Stewart.

The night guard rolled up his sleeves, as Fritz joined him. A guard's job never ends…

* * *

 **[A/N - I wonder if there's a company already called "Smith & Schmidt"...]**


	5. Chapter 4 - Missing Children Incident

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Five Nights at Freddy's" or its characters.**

* * *

"… She's still there isn't she?"

"Yep."

"God, I feel like I'm back to my first week…"

The night guard looked at the right door of his office, narrowing his eyes in annoyance. A robotic yellow chicken stared back at him, same as she had twenty minutes ago.

"The one controlling her sure is persistent," Fritz commented. "At least the one controlling Bonnie leaves pretty quickly."

"And he returns just as quickly," Mike retorted. "Keep watching Pirate Cove, tonight is the third night so Foxy will be coming out too."

Fritz grumbled. "I know that…"

The two men were more tired than usual that day, since they had to help Stewart watch over the children during day shift. After Lawrence confirmed (in a tone of voice which made it clear that he did _not_ forget the whole tampering with animatronics' AI mishap) that they would get paid for those extra hours, they returned to their homes for some rest and dinner before having to go back to the pizzeria.

Now they were back to their small office, facing the unwilling robots who were acting much alike how they had on Mike's third night on the job. He touched his shoulder. That was the night when he got the confirmation that all the messages Phil had left him were not just some meaningless pranks…

"Did you go see Phil yet?" he asked his partner.

Fritz closed the left door on Bonnie's face. "Yeah, I did. Looks like he's recovering well. His sister says he should wake up any time now."

Mike nodded, sighing. "I haven't been able to take the time to go there…" he admitted. "But more importantly – we haven't done any research yet."

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to go see Jeremy on Monday…" Fritz reminded.

It was Mike's turn to grumble. He didn't want to be reminded of _that_.

" **You went to see Mr. Fitzgerald?"**

Mike looked at the desk just in time to see Golden Freddy materialize itself on top of it. Even though both guards already knew who the ghost actually was – her first name and appearance, at least – she still insisted on assuming the yellow bear's figure and Phil Grayson's voice to communicate.

Fritz jumped at the sudden sound of static and the booming voice of a robot. "Don't _do_ that!" he scolded, almost crushing the tablet he had in his hands.

" **Sorry…"**

"Yeah, we did," Mike said to answer Rika's question. "Waste of time, if you ask me. The guy wanted nothing to do with us."

The bear looked down. **"Don't be mad at him,"** she begged. **"I'm sure he'll change his mind"**

"Doubt it," Mike grunted, leering at the right door again. Chica was still there, though she was now looking at Golden Freddy with a deep frown. "Tell me something – why do you use Phil's voice to talk to us? And why do use Golden Freddy's looks? We already know your name is Ri -"

" **SHHH!"** the bear hissed. **"Don't say it out loud!"**

The night guard raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

Golden Freddy looked around, as if to make sure they were not being watched. **"He's listening,"** she warned. **"If he finds out who I am… He'll try to trap me again…"**

"You mean the Puppet?" Fritz asked, not even bothering to disguise his apprehension at the thought of having that creepy monochromatic robot around. "He's not around too, is he?"

" **Not the robot,"** Rika clarified. **"But the one that use to control it is. I have to hide, that's why I use someone's else's voice and appearance"**

"You know who it is?" Mike asked eagerly.

" **Not sure,"** the ghost admitted. **"I think it's another kid, but he never said much about himself. Just that his name is Peter"**

* * *

Mike had never considered himself to be a "book kind of person". He wasn't much into reading. So, there was no reason for him to be at a library, really. But that day, there he was – entering the library with his fellow night guard right next to him, ready to start doing what they had set out to: investigate all they could about Freddy Fazbear's, and hopefully get some answers to their numerous questions.

Fritz headed towards a vacant computer and stretched his arms as he sat down. "Alright, operation 'Honey Bear' is a-go!" he announced, ready to start typing on the search engine.

"Operation 'Honey Bear'?" Mike repeated with an unimpressed tone of voice.

"Yeah! You know, because of Rika – she uses Golden Freddy's looks. He's a bear, and is yellow, like honey, so…" His voice trailed off as he noticed Mike's expression. He cleared his throat. "Right. Serious time. Got it. So, what should we research first?"

"What happened in 1977," Mike decided. "You said that Francis mentioned some tragedy that took place there…"

It took a surprising amount of time to find anything at all. It seemed that there was nothing but "allusions" to what had happened, but the actual reports were nowhere to be found. Newspapers mentioned the "tragedy", but didn't go into further detail about what that tragedy actually involved.

Mike was getting increasingly more aggravated. "Is there nothing in here?!" he snapped, shaking the chair Fritz was sitting in angrily. Several people in the library gave him annoyed stared.

Fritz frowned at the screen. "Shaking the chair is not going to do you any good, pal," he declared. He didn't look at all bothered by Mike's frustration, which only made him grow angrier. "I'm doing my best here, but I can't find what doesn't exist."

"There _has_ to be something!" the night guard hissed, making yet more people stare him. He looked back at them. "What?! You have a problem?!"

The other guard sighed. "Yeah, screaming at innocent bystanders will for sure force some information to show up on the Internet – that's how it always works…" he muttered, sarcastically.

"Fritz, don't you start…"

"Ah, here we go!" the tanned man said cheerfully, ignoring the other man's growls, as a window full of text appeared on the screen. "Listen to this – _'Tragedy strikes again at famous family establishment. Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, once a popular place for children and adults alike, seems to be on a down-spiral as yet another death has occurred within its doors, just some weeks after the incident that shocked the nation and seemingly destroyed the pizzeria's reputation. A member of the staff, 27-year old entertainer Marize Clemont, committed suicide on the morning of 6_ _th_ _of July. Her family and friends confess having no knowledge of Miss Clemont wanting to end her life, confirming that she…'_ blah-blah-blah _'... Phil Grayson, head of security at Freddy's, witnessed the event, but refused to give any statement to the media as of now'."_

Mike re-read the news report a couple of times. There was, yet again, just a vague mention to the original "tragedy", but it was clear that whatever that tragedy was, it had happened before the 6th of July of 1977. This Marize Clemont… he didn't know if she had anything to do with the haunting that was going on at the pizzeria. And Phil witnessed her suicide…

"Does it say anything else about what happened before this girl killed herself?" he inquired.

Fritz browsed through the rest of the news carefully. "No, nothing… Hold on, there's another news about Freddy's on this newspaper's site…" He clicked on another article.

Once it opened, it showed the photo of two very familiar golden animatronics.

"Hey, that's…" Mike started.

"… Golden Freddy and Spring Bonnie," and Fritz concluded. "What's this about…?" He leaned forward to read the article.

" _Family diner closes its doors. Today marks the end of Fredbear's Family Diner, a place that for six years was the Mecca for all family gatherings. Upon the death of a child in the vicinity of the establishment, diner owner Antoine McNair has decided to sell his business to company owner, Jack Anderson, who intends on using McNair's animatronics as part of his new show._

' _This is the beginning of a new era,' stated Jack Anderson. 'The diner has served its purpose, but now it is time for us to keep up with the ages. My company will provide to children fun and entertainment along with their favorite food. After all, who doesn't like pizza?'_

 _Freddy Fazbear's Pizza is the name Jack Anderson has chosen for his new project. The company of name Fazbear Entertainment, owned by Mr. Anderson himself, is researching on the robots once owned by Mr. McNair so they can recreate the same unique ability these robots possess of engaging in normal conversation with the costumers just as a human would. Fredbear and Ralfbunny will now have a new home in Freddy Fazbear's, along with four new friends whose identity have yet to be revealed to the public._

' _It is a surprise,' stated Jack Anderson. 'And in all honesty, there is much yet to discuss. We will have the help of the mechanic that built the originals, Fredbear and Ralfbunny, of course, but that is all I can say for now.'_

 _Granddaughter of Antoine McNair, Alice McNair, is considered a genius in the field of mechanic and was the one to come up with the technology that made these robots so unique and dear to the children's hearts.'_

"It doesn't say the name of the kid that died," Mike noticed.

"It's down here," Fritz pointed to a small article from some months prior to the one they had just read. It showed the photo of a boy with bowl-cut hair, who looked kind of familiar…

"Hey, I saw that kid!" Mike remembered. "On the 'haunted' TV!"

"You mean that time when you had different images show up on the screen of the TV on the hospital?" Fritz looked at the photo of the kid again. "Man, you sure go through a lot of weird shit… Anyway, this kid was called… Peter Hampton. Looks like he was taken by someone to the parking lot, away from the security camera…"

Mike nodded. "So that's Peter…"

Rika said the name of the ghost that haunted the Puppet once was Peter. That was the kid. The one that died in Fredbear's Family Diner. Probably the very first one to be killed. Was he killed by the same person as Rika and her friends? Wouldn't surprise him, really… But why would he force the other kids to go after innocent people? Was he that desperate to capture their killer that he couldn't even tell adults apart anymore?

"Didn't Mira's son say that he could see a lot of ghosts in the pizzeria?" Fritz questioned.

"Yeah, but four are the ones trapped in the suits, one is Rika and the other five are harmless," Mike reminded. "Maybe this Peter was hiding from Zach… Don't know how he could though. I thought that mediums could see ghosts regardless of whether they want to be seen or not. Then again, he did say he wasn't as strong as his mother…"

"There might be something from the same newspaper…" Fritz muttered, turning back to his research. "Maybe if I knew the exact date of the tragedy I could find something…"

Mike stared at the screen for a while, before deciding something. "Try the 26th of June."

Fritz looked at him. "Why? You know something I don't?"

The night guard scratched his neck, feeling like he was probably not going to like what they were going to find next. He had a bad feeling…

"That's the day I woke up not remembering anything," he explained. "Jim told me I had to remember something… I think I was involved in what happened somehow…"

He hadn't went into detail about how he felt like it was his responsibility, in particular, to solve things, but he had at least shared with his partner how he knew that he had to remember something. Something that related to the pizzeria… and the "tragedy"… Ever since his parents had told him the exact day in which he had been found with no memories, he had the feeling that something bad had happened that day… not just to him… but to someone else… The very thing he had to remember.

Fritz didn't question him any further and turned back to the computer. Just as he typed in the date Mike told him along with "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza", he got a number of hits.

"Whoa, we should have tried this sooner!" He clicked the first one, and they were greeted with the photos of five children.

Mike recognized one of them immediately.

"Rika…"

The photo at the center was that of a young black-haired girl with kind amber-ish eyes. To her left, was the photo of a girl with brown hair tied in a ponytail. She looked similar to Rika, but her eyes gave a feeling of confidence and boldness.

The other three children were all boys. One had red hair to his shoulders and a rebellious pout. Another had sleek black hair and the sad stare of someone who had been through a lot already. The last boy was a chubby blonde with a wide grin.

This time it was Mike who read the news that accompanied the photos.

" _Five children missing at local pizzeria._

 _Five children are now linked to the incident at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where a man dressed as a cartoon mascot lured them into a back room. On the day of 26_ _th_ _of June, two children, sisters, were reported missing by their parents. The youngest was celebrating her tenth birthday the day she went missing._

 _In the meantime, three more children have been connected to the incident, and were said to be friends with the two sisters. It is suspected they sneaked out of their homes to attend the birthday of their friend._

 _While the suspect has been charged, the bodies themselves were never found. The suspect is now facing the death penalty._

 _Freddy Fazbear's Pizza has been fighting an uphill battle ever since to convince families to return to the pizzeria._

' _It's a tragedy.'"_

Both night guards stared at the photos of the children for a long while. Just saying "It's a tragedy" didn't even begin to describe it. Those five kids had been taken by someone, in a place they loved, and were killed… for what? And now they were trapped in the same robots they loved when they were alive, trapped in a vicious circle, forced to kill innocent people…

"Mike," Fritz called. "Look at the date."

"I know…" Mike sighed, covering his eyes with his hand.

26th of June. That was Rika's birthday. That was the day she died, along with her sister and three friends… that was the day he forgot everything… But why? What on earth had happened that made him forget?

"Is there anything there about something else weird that happened that day?" he insisted.

Fritz read the news again. "No… There's nothing…"

Mike turned his gaze towards the photos of the kids again. Could he have known those kids…?

' _Jonah Macintyre. Nine years old. Son of Dexter and Colleen Macintyre,'_ was the information underneath the chubby blonde's photo.

' _Harley Hollister. Nine years old. Son of Hugo Hollister and Lana O'Vancey,'_ is what read underneath the photo of the sad-looking black-haired boy.

' _Crevan Shneps. Ten years old. Parents deceased. Was being raised by grandparents Alphonse and Olive Shneps,'_ was the information regarding the red-haired rebel.

When he got to the name of Rika and her older sister, he had to blink and lean forward to make sure he had read it right. His heart started pounding heavily once he was sure he hadn't made a mistake.

"Fritz," he called weakly. "Rika's name…"

Fritz read the label underneath Rika's photo, and he too got a look of shock, accompanied by a jaw drop. "What… No way!"

The labels underneath Rika's and her sister's photo read:

' _Bernadette and Fredericka Richards. Eleven and ten years old. Daughters of Lawrence and Keira Richards'_


	6. Chapter 5 - Remember

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Five Nights at Freddy's" or its characters.**

* * *

In all his time spent at the pizzeria, all the hours working the night shift, Mike always wondered why on earth Lawrence Richards, the stern and ever-grumpy manager, thought it was worth-it to keep Freddy Fazbear's Pizza open even when there were night guards dying and killer robots walking around. Now he knew.

Rika was his daughter. The ghostly girl that had been helping the night guard survive under the disguise of Golden Freddy was his daughter. The man lost his two daughters to some murderer in 1977, his wife to the Bite of 87, and yet there he was – running the establishment despite all the bad things happening. Lawrence knew that his daughters were there, as ghosts; it was the only explanation as to why he was adamant about having the place still running. He knew they were trapped there, and wouldn't have peace until their killer was put to justice. And so, he could not let that place close down. Not until everything was set straight.

"Man, that was some discovery," Fritz commented aloud after a long while of silence.

The shift was almost over, and the two night guards, for once, had spent it with almost no words exchanged. Both were thinking about the things they had discovered that afternoon.

The older guard went on. "I mean, who would have thought that our _beloved_ boss would have that much history with this place? Between his wife and his kids…"

Mike checked if Chica was at the right door, as usual, before answering. "Jim told me that Lawrence had lost a lot one time… But after I found out his wife was the victim of the 'Bite of 87' I didn't put any more thought into it…" he admitted. "Come to think of it, Rika does look a bit like Lawrence appearance-wise… Black eyes, amber eyes…"

"Minus the perpetual scowl and overwhelming aura of killing intent…"

"… but I never even considered the thought of them having any relation whatsoever," Mike concluded, checking the tablet.

"So, you think that the boss knows about the ghosts being around?" Fritz questioned.

Mike looked up from the tablet to look at the drawings made by children. "I'm sure of it. That explains why he keeps the place open." He sighed. "He knows his daughters are here, trapped, and he wants them to move on before this place gets closed down. And that's where we come in."

Fritz nodded without looking at his partner. "Right – well, we already made some progress," he said. "We know the names of the kids that died in 1977, we know who owned the original animatronics and we know when the kids died. Speaking of which, did you remember what happened to you that day?"

The night guard huffed. "No, and I'm getting more and more frustrated about it," he grunted. "I can't help thinking that I was involved in what happened to Rika and her friends…"

The other guard finally looked at him. "How could you possibly be involved in that?" he inquired.

"I don't know – maybe I managed to get away from the killer… or I saw something…" Mike scratched his scar absent-mindedly. "I wish whoever was trying to give us clues would just outright tell me what happened."

"Now that would be no fun," Fritz joked. "Having us run around searching for clues if much more amusing."

Mike snorted. Of course. Sounded about right.

 **"It's me"** greeted the usual robotic voice, just as Golden Freddy appeared on the desk.

Before the girl disguising herself as one of the original animatronics could say anything else, Mike spoke up. "Hey, were you counting on telling us you were Lawrence's daughter any time soon?"

Fritz sighed. His partner was being curt and rough again…

The bear frowned slightly. **"Did daddy tell you?"**

"As if your dad would tell me anything," Mike retorted. "We found out about it on the internet."

 **"I'm sorry,"** Rika apologized. **"I didn't think it was important"**

Mike narrowed his eyes. "Every piece of information is important," he affirmed. "You _do_ want us to help you with freeing your friends, right?"

Golden Freddy looked down at its feet. **"I didn't want to involve you in this, but…"**

"Consider us involved," said Fritz, yawning. "Don't mind Mike, honey. It's okay that you didn't tell us. Now – do you know what happened to Mike the day that you and your friends died?"

The ghostly bear looked up at him and tilted its head. **"No. Were you there at the pizzeria?"**

"Beats me," Mike grunted, rubbing his temples. "Fuck this, why can't I remember...?"

 **"Bad word!"**

"Mind your language in front of the lady, Schmidt," Fritz scolded.

Mike grumbled, slightly annoyed. The scolding from the ten-year old continues, now featuring Fritz Smith to boot.

Somewhere in the pizzeria, the sound of a grunt was heard. **"Kids and their cussing. How vulgar"**

The night guards looked at each other and then at Golden Freddy. Mike, for one, recognized that voice, though he hadn't heard it in a while – Fritz, on the other hand, looked extremely confused.

"Was that the other Golden Freddy?" Mike asked. Ever since the night when both he and Jim were attacked by Shadow Bonnie that he hadn't heard anything from the Other Golden Freddy. He had almost forgotten about him…

 **"Oh right – the** _ **other**_ **Golden Freddy,"** grumbled the distant voice. **"Now** _ **I'm**_ **the copy. Even after death I am constantly belittled as considered to be nothing more than a rip-off…"**

 **"That's Mr. Fredbear,"** Rika clarified. **"He's always been here; he just… doesn't come out to talk much…"**

Fritz's look of confusion intensified. "Wait a second – Fredbear? You mean robots have ghosts too?"

Immediately a _second_ Golden Freddy appeared sitting on the desk, this one looking slightly more solid than the image Rika used, though lacking eyeballs and having wires hanging from its mouth as well. **"I'm here, aren't I?"** he asked roughly.

"Well, that settles it – now I've officially seen it all," Mike commented.

 **"Don't get too used to seeing me around,"** Fredbear's ghost hissed. **"The only reason why I'm still here is…"** He stopped himself from carrying on and sniffed. **"Well – it's none of your business why I'm here. I couldn't care less about you two"**

"You helped me back then when I was being chased by Shadow Bonnie," Mike reminded.

 **"Simply because this child requested my assistance,"** he said, nodding at Rika, who was still assuming the same appearance as Fredbear, making it look like they were twins. **"Or do you think that you're so special that I'd feel the need to come aid you? Don't flatter yourself, kid"**

Fritz chuckled, but Mike was not amused. This second Golden Freddy – or Fredbear, should he say – was nothing like Rika; he was actually very much alike her father, Lawrence. _Too_ much, as far as the night guard was concerned. Was Fredbear already like that back when he was an active robot, interacting with the kids?

"Fredbear, right? Were you around when Rika and her friends were killed?" Fritz questioned.

The grumpier Golden Freddy cleared his throat. **"In a way,"** he replied. **"My suit was used by the murderer to lure the children."** It was clear that this was a tough subject for the ghost bear to be reminded of. His tone of voice was bitter and sorrowful. **"Unfortunately, as I was in 'suit mode' at the time, I don't remember the event in itself."**

"You shut yourself down after that, didn't you?" Mike remembered. "Was it because of…" His voice trailed off, as he noticed how the frown in Fredbear's face deepened.

 **"…** **The children were my responsibility. I failed them,"** he stated.

The Golden Freddy that was in fact Rika moved its paw to touch Fredbear's shoulder in a comforting manner. **"It wasn't your fault, Mr. Fredbear"**

Mike looked at the drawings made by the children again. Rika was right – Fredbear wasn't the one responsible for any of this. It was whoever killed the kids that was to blame. If he hadn't taken the lives of those innocent children… Rika and her friends… none of this would be happening.

He really needed to remember whatever it was that happened to him on the day the children were killed. Maybe doing so would help them discover who was the actual killer, and finally get some peace for the children and the souls of all those whose lives were destroyed in that pizzeria.

* * *

"Mike, do you need anything else?"

The tired night guard yawned as he lied on the couch. "No, I'm good. You should get some rest too, you know," he added, as he observed his girlfriend. The blonde girl looked even more tired than him, even though she, unlike him, was supposed to have had a good night's sleep. "You don't look so good."

Claire smiled weakly, shaking her head. "No, I'm alright… Guess I had some bad dreams that didn't let me rest properly…" She rubbed her eyes. "You're the one that's been warding off animatronics for six hours straight, not me."

"Yeah, don't take this the wrong way, but," Mike yawned. "You look worse than me."

"Haha," Claire laughed sarcastically, as she took her leave.

Mike rested his head on the cushion. He stared out the window absent-mindedly for a while, not really paying attention to the scenery on the other side.

He hadn't told Claire about what he and Fritz had discovered about the children. Neither did he tell her about how he had to remember what happened to him on the day of 26th June. He would have to, eventually, but he didn't want her to worry with what could be nothing. It was very unlikely that the mystery in his past would turn out to be insignificant, considering how Jim made it seem like such a big deal when he appeared to him in his dream.

The night guard took in a deep breath and decided it was best to rest his mind instead of wondering about it forever. It wasn't taking him anywhere. He tried picturing himself at the pizzeria back in its prime, with him as a child, but it didn't bring up any memories. There was nothing. Whatever he had to remember was definitely buried so deep he couldn't bring them out on his own.

Right before his eyes closed, and his mind went to sleep, he heard a faint familiar song, and noticed something golden shimmering in the window.

* * *

 **"…** **Mister?"**

Mike grumbled in his sleep, turning his head slightly to the side to adjust himself.

 **"…** **Please, mister, open your eyes…"**

Uh. Was someone talking to him? Nah, just a dream probably.

 **"… Alright, we'll have to do this the hard way then."**

"OW!"

Mike snapped his eyes open and sat up abruptly, rubbing his now sore cheek. Someone had pinched it rather harshly, to the point of almost tearing the skin off.

"What the hell – who did that?!" he demanded, looking around him.

He wasn't where he fell asleep anymore. He was in the middle of the street, for some reason. One look at his left, and he spotted a building labeled "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza".

Ah, well. If that had happened to him a month ago, he would have found it extremely alarming and suspicious. But, sadly, he was used to it. If anything, it revealed that he was, indeed, locked in a dream of some sort. And if the dream felt realistic, then he was about to be shown some new clues.

Mike sighed. He was going to be left with more questions than before probably.

"Alright, alright… You can come out, Golden Freddy… Rika, Goldie, whatever…" He stood up, dusting his pants. "What other mysteries are you going to give me this time?"

 **"No need to bring on the sass. I'm trying to help you here."**

Mike frowned. Now that he was actually paying attention to the disembodied voice, while it did sound like a little girl, it didn't sound like Rika.

He heard a familiar chirping sound to his right. The night guard looked on the direction of the sound and spotted Goldie, the golden bird, giving him a narrow stare.

 **"Sorry I woke you up like that, but you weren't cooperating,"** said the voice, obviously coming from the bird. **"Nice to talk to you for once; I wasn't too sure how shocked you'd be to hear a bird talk so I've been avoiding it, but…"**

"Wait, wait – 'for once'? So, you're _not_ Rika?" Mike asked, feeling genuinely shocked. Up until that point, he was certain that Goldie and Golden Freddy were the one in the same.

Goldie tilted its head. **"Don't recall ever saying I was."**

"B-but I asked you if you were Golden Freddy once, and you…!"

 **"Ah that,"** the voice sighed. **"Sorry, I thought it'd be easier if you thought I was someone you knew. No, no, I'm not actually the girl that's been helping you. I've done my share of helping too, though!"**

Mike opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, like a fish, completely distraught about what he was being told.

"So, who the hell are you then?"

The bird fluttered over to Mike's shoulder. **"That's not important. I've been giving you a lot of clues, and** _ **yet**_ **, nothing! I have to admit, I was sure you would have it all figured out by now…"**

Mike's look of bafflement and confusion dispersed, leaving only a frown and a glare. "Your clues are pretty damn dubious, you know? Why can't you just tell me?"

 **"Well, there are some things that you have to figure out yourself…"** Goldie explained. **"If I just blurted it all out to you, it would be way too unbelievable. Step by step does it…"**

"'Step by step' my ass!" Mike snapped. "You're having a lot of fun watching run around with no idea of what's going to happen next, aren't you?"

Goldie stared at him for a while. **"Maybe,"** it muttered. **"Never mind that, now. You wanted to know what you've forgotten, right?"**

"Well, obviously."

 **"Alrighty then!"** Goldie hopped off of his shoulder and flew into the pizzeria.

Mike followed the golden bird inside the building. It was much more vibrant than he was used to, naturally. He was probably back in 1977, when the pizzeria was still a popular and happy place, filled with happy children that had no idea that it was all going to fall apart eventually… sooner than they thought…

The night guard looked around, trying to spot anything that would tell him what it was that he needed to see. He saw a girl about his age with her auburn hair tied in a braid walking past him in a hurry. She looked familiar…

 **"That's Marize Clemont,"** Goldie informed, flapping its wings until it landed on a table next to where the night guard was standing. **"She's the Fazbear's employee that committed suicide after the children died. She's not the one you gotta pay attention to, though… Look who just walked in."**

Mike looked back at the door, and was shocked. The child that had just walked in…

… It was him.

The younger Mike looked around, much alike the older one had, and he looked tired, as if he had been running for a long while.

"What am I doing here?" Mike wondered. He looked at Goldie. "What am I doing here?" he repeated.

Goldie tilted its head. **"What was going on at the pizzeria in the 26** **th** **June of 1977, mister? Do you remember?"**

"That… Rika's birthday, right?"

The younger version of himself darted towards the employee named Marize Clemont, tugging on her shirt. "Excuse me, miss," he called. "Is Rika Richards' birthday still going on?"

Mike frowned. How would the younger version of him know that…?

Marize smiled. "Yes, it is, honey. Are you a friend?"

The younger Mike nodded. "Yeah, she is. She's my best friend."

* * *

 **[A/N - Perhaps some things are best left forgotten... for now.]**


	7. Chapter 6 - 26th June, 1977

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Five Nights at Freddy's" or its characters.**

* * *

"Best friend?!"

Goldie looked at Mike quizzically, tilting its head at his sudden outburst.

The night guard remembered he wasn't alone and looked around him, worried that someone heard him. However, no one at the pizzeria seemed to even notice he was there. They simply walked right past them without even looking his way.

 **"Mister, you're in a dream,"** the golden bird reminded. **"They can't see you. Technically, you're not here – well, you** _ **are**_ **, but as a kid… So, then again…"**

Mike waved his hand around to quiet Goldie down. "Don't make it more confusing than it already is!" he snapped. "You're trying to tell me that I knew Rika when I was a kid?"

Goldie didn't answer, obviously thinking it was a stupid question, considering the scene they had just witnessed.

"She's the friend my mom was talking about… back then!" Mike suddenly remembered.

Back when he was at the hospital after being attacked by Shadow Bonnie, his mother had mentioned that he had a friend he had apparently forgotten all about back when he was eleven… before he forgot everything.

The reveal had him walking around in circles as he ran fingers through his hair. "Oh God… She's the one I gave the ribbon to… She's been at the pizzeria all this time…!" he ranted. "Why didn't she tell me?"

Goldie grunted. **"Right. I'm sure that conversation would have gone well."** The bird cleared its throat and started mimicking Rika's voice. **"Hey Mikey. Remember me? I was your friend until you turned eleven and somehow lost your memories. By the way, I was murdered here at the pizzeria were you work at now, and my friends will be trying to kill you night after night. So, how** _ **your**_ **day?"**

Mike shot an annoyed look at the bird, though he admit it had a point. Why did he have to find out things the hard way…?

He looked back at his younger self, who was now looking around for a sign as to where Rika could be. The older Mike imitated him, but couldn't see her anywhere. He spotted a younger Phil Grayson in the far end of the building, talking to someone on the phone. That man had no idea of how bad things were gonna get from that day onwards…

Mike instinctively stepped back once a large red fox made its way towards him, forgetting for a moment that he was pretty much an invisible being at that point. Foxy the Pirate didn't see Mike, naturally, and continued walking until it got near a group of rowdy toddlers. The fox greeted them cheerfully, and the kids seemed happy to see him.

"Hard to believe this is the same guy that I have to keep watch over so he won't stab me…" the night guard muttered to himself. "I know it's not his fault, but…"

Noticing Goldie was still paying close attention to the robotic fox, Mike closed his mouth and did the same.

Once the children went on their way after listening to the pirate's stories, Foxy looked around as if he too was looking for someone. Something else caught his attention though – something Mike was not expecting to see there.

"That thing…!" he gasped.

It was the Puppet. That unmistakable slender robot, with its hollow eyes and claw-like fingers… He still couldn't understand why they let that thing near children…

"That thing existed back then too?" he asked Goldie.

The bird finally looked back at him. **"It was built by a different mechanic from the one that built Freddy and the others,"** it explained. **"It wasn't supposed to be sentient like the others, but after a while…"**

Mike raised an eyebrow. "After a while…?"

 **"Something started taking over the Puppet, and controlling it."** Goldie looked back at the two robots. **"It pretty much acted as if it** _ **was**_ **the Puppet, but I know it's someone else. Rika does too."**

"It's a kid, right? Named Peter?"

Goldie nodded. **"Peter Hampton, yes,"** it confirmed. **"The first kid to die… Well, with a connection to the robots anyway."**

Mike frowned as he kept looking at the golden bird. "Why, were there others kids that were killed by this Purple Man that weren't related to the pizzeria or the diner?"

 **"In a way,"** Goldie replied mysteriously. **"Have you found out how many children have died at the pizzeria yet?"**

That was a not-so-subtle subject change, but Mike wouldn't question it any further for now. "I'm guessing ten, plus Peter, who died at the diner," he said. "But I only have to worry about four, right? Rika is helping us, and I don't know what happened to the other five that died in 87…"

 **"They're at the pizzeria, but they won't bother you,"** the bird affirmed. **"Rika saved them before it was too late."**

Mike was about to ask what that meant exactly when he saw his younger self walk past him. The younger Mike was heading towards Foxy, who was done talking to the Puppet and was now making his way towards Pirate Cove. The robot fox pulled the curtains apart and went inside its lair.

Goldie flew away after them, prompting Mike to follow; however, once they were right at the entrance of Pirate Cave, the young Mike seemed apprehensive about going in.

"Why would Rika be here…?" he wondered aloud. "She doesn't really like pirates…"

 **"Mister,"** Goldie called. **"I should warn you – things in there aren't going to look pretty…"**

The night guard was pretty sure he knew what Goldie was talking about. If he was relieving the day in which Rika and her friends died, and he couldn't see them anywhere, then there was a chance that he was about to see the place where they were murdered… Pirate Cove…

"I thought they were lured into the backroom…"

The golden bird looked down. **"The security cameras were tampered with. The only piece of footage that they managed to retrieve was what led them to arrest Mr. Symonds…"**

Right – the employee that was arrested for the murders… He could only guess that that guy had been framed, and the real killer was still out there… somewhere…

"Hey," Mike suddenly said, realizing a startling possibility. "Whatever caused me to forget everything from until this day… Did I see the murder?"

Goldie looked at him sadly. **"Mister…"**

"I did, didn't I? I have to see how it is!"

And, without thinking it any further, he pulled the curtains of Pirate Cove and went in just as his younger self did the same.

What he saw inside Pirate Cove was something so horrendous, so disturbing, that he could never imagine someone being capable of such a thing.

Four children were there, lying on the ground, in their own blood. There was a young girl lying face-down near the entrance, as if she had tried to escape – there was a large wound on her back, with several gashes as if whoever hurt her stabbed her multiple times. Her ponytail was all messy, as if someone pulled her hair. Another child, a chubby blonde boy, was leaning next to a couple of treasure chests, his eyes and mouth still open in a silent scream of horror, and he had several wounds on his arms and chest. The third child was lying face-down like the girl, but further away from the entrance. He had black hair, and the pool of blood he was in seemed to be coming from his face. The last child, a boy with red hair, was in the middle of the floor, arms and legs spread open. His eyes were _gone_.

Mike almost fell like turning away and leaving the room again. There was no point in trying to help them. They were dead. He felt sick. How could someone do that to those kids…? What kind of monster was this man?

The younger Mike screamed. He took several steps back once he spotted the bodies, and even though he looked absolutely horrified by what he was seeing, he didn't seem to be able to look away.

"J-Jonah?" he squeaked, looking at the chubby kid leaning on the treasure chests. "Crevan…"

He then looked at a presence that stood in front of the stage. Foxy the Pirate was collapsed in front of said presence, as if he had been shut down.

It was someone wearing the Golden Freddy suit. Obviously having heard the scream, the man turned his head slowly to look at the scared young child that had just walked in to find four corpses.

"Why hello there, young man," the person sneered.

The night guard felt shivers go down his spine. That voice…

The man turned towards the young Mike. It was impossible to indentify him as he was wearing the Golden Freddy suit. He had a large knife in his hands, and there was yet another child behind him, on stage.

It was Rika. It seemed as if the murderer had moved her so that it would look like she was sleeping after killing her. If it weren't for the deep cuts on her torso and legs, and the blood coming off her mouth and left eye, it really would look like she was resting. But she wasn't. She was dead.

Something oozed out of the mouth and eyes of the Golden Freddy suit. An odd, mist-like substance… that slowly took the shape of a familiar bunny…

 **"What do we have here?"** it chuckled.

Shadow Bonnie. Whoever was wearing the Golden Freddy suit, he was being helped by Shadow Bonnie. The wicked, purple bunny was standing by the murderer, aiding him on torturing those kids… It was probably thanks to him that the camera footage had been tampered with in order to frame someone else.

Mike found himself frozen, watching the scene in front of him unfold. He had seen Shadow Bonnie when he was just eleven – he had seen the murderer of those kids, kind of. But why did he forget? Why didn't he tell the authorities that he had seen the corpses in Pirate Cove, and tried to identify the killer by his voice? Doing so now probably wouldn't work – his voice could have very well changed in the meantime.

As he had done with the adult Mike, Shadow Bonnie cackled manically and lashed at the younger Mike, though he stopped just before colliding with the child. Startled by this sudden movement, the young boy screamed and fell back on the floor. This only made both the purple shadow and the murderer laugh loudly.

 **"What's the matter, Mikey? Not gonna help your friends?"** Shadow Bonnie asked mockingly. **"I thought you were the brave one~"**

The young boy stood up, trembling in fear, and sprinted out of Pirate Cove.

"No!" the older Mike screamed. "Where are you going?!" He bolted after his younger self, without even caring if Goldie went with him.

He left them. Back then, that day… He abandoned his friends. He could only assume he was friends with all of them, if they were Rika's friends as well. After snapping at Jeremy Fitzgerald the other day for being willing to stay at the asylum instead of facing reality and helping them, he finds out that he did the same all those years ago…

 **"Mister,"** Goldie called, suddenly appearing right next to him, accompanying him by flying. **"Are you alright?"**

"No, I'm not alright!" he snapped, continuing to run after his younger self, who, instead of looking for an adult to whom he could tell what he just saw, was running out the pizzeria, looking behind him in fear of being followed. "Why did I run away? I could have told someone…!"

 **"You were just a kid; don't be so hard on yourself."**

It didn't matter to Mike how old he was. He had been a coward. He had only cared about running away and saving himself, instead of trying to help.

"Stop!" he called after his younger self, who looked like he was never going to stop running until he got home. "Get back in there and tell Phil or something, you stupid…!"

 **"He can't hear you,"** Goldie hissed. **"This is just a memory, remember? You can't change what happened!"**

The younger Mike finally stopped running. He had run out of breath in the middle of woods that separated the two major parts of town. The woods that stood in-between the pizzeria and his house. He fell on his knees as he wiped his sweat off his forehead, the full horror of the situation starting to sink in as he sobbed.

The older Mike stood next to him, still looking back angrily. "I can't believe this… I just left them!"

Goldie fluttered over to a large rock that was nearby. **"It's not over, mister."**

Just as the small bird said that, the young Mike screamed and held his hand as it bled abundantly. Something invisible had just made a deep cut in his hand.

The night guard knew exactly who was responsible for that. Shadow Bonnie didn't wait for long to make himself visible, looming over the crying child with a wicked grin. He, obviously, loved every second of despair and pain he caused.

 **"There you go, Mikey, a little souvenir from yours truly,"** he cackled. **"Now you'll have something to remind you of that one time when, instead of helping your friends like the leader they thought you were, you simply ran off to save your own skin."**

Mike his scarred hand instinctively, watching as his younger self stared at Shadow Bonnie, paralyzed by fear.

 **"Now, we have to do something about what you just saw. Can't have you running around telling everyone, can I?"**

The purple bunny's grin got wider. In a split second, the shadow charged at the young boy, pushing him hard against the rock Goldie was on. Once the child's head hit the rock, the scene disappeared, and there was nothing but blackness.

Mike had been in the "blackness" before, but at that time he thought he was dead, and he ended up having a chat with Phil Grayson. This time, however, the only company he had was Goldie, was looking at him as if it was expecting him to explode and start lashing out at the emptiness.

So that was it. He was friends with Rika and the other children that were murdered – Bernadette, Jonah, Harley and Crevan. Back then, he found them after they died; he knew that they had been taken to Pirate Cove, and that their killer was still there. If he had told someone once he ran out of Pirate Cove, the person responsible for their deaths could have been caught. But he didn't do that… He ran away… He abandoned them, and because of his selfishness, they were now stuck inside their favorite animatronics, hunting down night guards… The robots wouldn't be forced to kill people, Phil wouldn't be in the hospital, and that guy who got framed for the murders wouldn't have had his life ruined. It was his fault that things went downhill for the pizzeria.

It was kind of ironic, really, that now they were trying to kill him during the night… It almost felt like… justice.

Finally, the truth. What he had forgotten had been revealed to him. And now he wished he didn't know…


	8. Chapter 7 - Reality Check

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Five Nights at Freddy's" or its characters.**

* * *

Jonah Macintyre…

Harley Hollister…

Crevan Shneps…

Bernadette Richards…

... and Fredericka Richards… Rika.

Those were the names of his friends; the friends he forgot about – the friends he abandoned.

Even after being shown the memories he had long lost from 26th June of 1977 he still couldn't recall any particular story about him and that group of children that lost their lives that day. Obviously the attack from Shadow Bonnie had done the trick – he was never getting those memories back. All the fun times he might have had with those kids were lost forever.

Goldie, the golden bird, was there by his side when he woke up from that awful dream. Back in the real world, it seemed like Goldie had lost the ability to communicate with the night guard, so it showed its concern by tilting its head and chirping softly.

Mike didn't say anything. He still felt sick. No amount of sleeping would help him get over what he had just learned. It was his fault. He had messed up everything. If only he hadn't run away… He could have told someone what he had seen… The killer would have been caught, that guy Donovan Symonds wouldn't have been arrested in his place, the kids would have moved on in peace and the night guards wouldn't have been killed by the haunted animatronics…

That's why he felt like he had the responsibility to solve the mysteries of the pizzeria – he _was_ responsible for it all, in a way.

He knew exactly what he had to do that night. The fifth night of that week was the one where he'd be facing the children, at last. He'd face the friends he betrayed. Hopefully that would bring them some peace. If he had to die to appease them… then so be it.

* * *

"You really got your game face on, today."

Mike didn't answer Fritz's comment.

Frowning at his partner's silence, Fritz spoke again. "Maybe tomorrow we should go pay our dear boss a visit," he suggested. "You know, ask him if he really knew about his daughters' ghosts still being around. Hey, didn't you say that he mentioned being helped by Mira's father at some point? The guy was a medium, right? Maybe he helped him with that…"

No answer again. Mike just kept walking towards his office, barely paying attention to the path he was following. He had gone down that "road" so many times already… And this could very well be his last night there. That feeling was nostalgic somehow. He felt the same way on the sixth night of his first week.

Fritz's frown intensified. "Alright, Mike, time out – what happened?" he demanded to know. "Seriously, you look like you're about to face a firing squad."

Mike sat down on his usual chair. "A robotic firing squad, yeah," he muttered.

"Ah so you _can_ talk – wait." Fritz sat next to him. "What do you mean, a 'robotic firing squad'? You… You're not gonna face the animatronics are you?"

The night guard nodded. "Yep," he confirmed. "That's exactly what I'm gonna do."

Fritz blinked. Then he chuckled. "Right, yeah, that sounds like a wonderful idea. And you gave me so much grief because I suggested messing with their AI…"

He picked up the tablet, obviously thinking that Mike was joking. He quickly realized, however, that, judging from his partner's expression and silence, he was being very serious.

"Mike, that's suicide," he spat. "Why the hell did you decide to do that now? Every week that goes by they get more aggressive, if they find you tonight on the halls, they'll _end_ you."

"Well maybe they should." Mike leaned back on the chair, looking at the posters. He wondered which one of his "former friends" would go for him first… Funny, he didn't feel scared about what he was about to do at all.

Fritz was baffled. "The _fuck_ is wrong with you?" he finally snapped. "'Maybe they should'? What… Are you drunk?"

"I finally remembered what happened to me the day Rika died," Mike revealed, before his partner yelled at him again. "I saw the kids… They were my friends. I saw the person that killed them, wearing the Golden Freddy suit. And I ran." He looked at the other guard, who now looked shocked rather than angry. "I _ran_ , you understand? I left them there."

The other guard took a couple of seconds to recover from the information he had just received. "Wh… Well, you were like, what, eleven? You can't really expect a kid to…"

"The age doesn't matter," Mike retorted. "What matters is that I left them behind. So, now I'm gonna walk up to them and apologize."

"And that will make everything better," Fritz added, sarcastically. "They will just hug it out and never bother another night guard again. C'mon, Mike, be real – the moment you step outside they won't give you time to talk. And once they're done with stuffing you in a suit, they'll try to do the same to me. But hey, it will be all good, because you _apologized_ …"

"I don't need to hear your sarcasm," Mike grunted. "I've already decided. I'm just letting you know. And I'll only walk outside when it's almost six AM. That way they won't have time to go for you."

Fritz rubbed his temples. It was obviously taking every fiber of his being for him to not bitch-slap his idiot partner.

"Alright, listen here. I understand you feel guilty about this, but the one who's really at fault in the middle of all this is the guy who killed the kids," he reasoned. "Rika has been helping you, hasn't she? She doesn't blame you for what happened, otherwise she'd just sit back and watch you get killed. Do you really think that, after all her effort, it's fair that you just waltz up to the robots and let them kill you? Do you think it's fair for Phil, who put himself in danger by recording those messages so he could warn you about what you'd have to face? And what about Mira's father, Jim? He died to save your ass, and now you're just gonna throw it all out the window. You're just pretty much spitting on the face of everyone that helped keep you alive. Not to mention Claire – you're just gonna leave her alone, knowing her boyfriend died at the pizzeria but she can't do anything about it 'cause it will all just be covered up?"

The night guard stayed silent while Fritz talked.

Damn it, he made a good point… It wasn't fair for Rika, Phil or Jim… All of them did their best to help him, even if whether or not he deserved it was arguable. And Claire… he couldn't do that to her…

"So, in short, what you planned on doing, not only is it stupid and suicidal, but it won't solve anything," Fritz concluded, crossing his arms. "It will only bring more problems. More clean-up for my dear Mira to do, more money Lawrence will have to spend, and another night guard that will have to come here replace you. Plus, I doubt that it would stop the kids from going after me tomorrow. Your sacrifice wouldn't mean jack shit."

Mike let out a growl. "Damn it, then what am I supposed to do?! I have to at least try and reach out to them," he insisted. "I have to make things right…!"

Fritz waved his hand lazily and interrupted his partner. "Sure, sure, but suicide is _just_ a bit extreme," he stated. "But I can tell you're just gonna stay grumpy all night, so how about this – when I see that the robots are far away from our office you can peek outside and just… I don't know… call out to them and explain your side of the story or whatever you want to do. That if you don't pussy out in the meantime, of course."

The night guard stared at the tanned man next to him. "… I find it somewhat insulting that you're the more reasonable and level-headed of the two of us," he confessed.

"Life experience, man, that's all," Fritz snickered. "That and you're stupid," he added, which caused Mike to glare at him. "Honestly, what were you thinking – walking up to the robots and apologize…"

* * *

When the clock reached thirty past five, Mike felt a sudden feeling of anxiousness mixed with a bit of dread. _Now_ the fear was kicking in…

The two night guards were so used to the robots' current level of persistency that it didn't even bother them anymore that Chica was constantly staring at them through the right window or that Bonnie was displaying his usual erratic "teleportation" skills from the dining area to the west hall. It was difficult to find a time where the animatronics would be distanced enough so that they wouldn't impose and immediate threat when Mike stepped out to try and communicate with them.

"What's the matter, champ? You don't look so tough," Fritz commented, seemingly amused. "So much for wanting to go outside and have a chat with our little murderous friends, uh?"

"Shut up," Mike hissed. "I _am_ gonna go out and try to talk with them, we just have to… find the right time." He gulped.

The sudden sound of static alerted the two guards to the presence of the ghostly bear known as Golden Freddy. The bear appeared at its usual spot on the desk, showing a very displeased expression that wasn't very common.

 **"I couldn't help but overhear your little chat earlier,"** Golden Freddy stated. **"And I must say I am baffled – never, in a million years, would I ever think you to be such a fool."**

Fritz nodded. "Thank you – someone agrees with me."

This was obviously the original Fredbear – now Golden Freddy – talking, not Rika. Considering they used the same appearance and raspy voice, the only way to distinguish them was from the way they talked; Rika sounded kind and calming while Fredbear was, well, _not_.

"This is something I need to do," Mike insisted. "I know it's risky…"

 **"Ah yes, the martyr,"** Golden Freddy sighed. **"Not a very common sight in today's youth. So you expect them to just stand there and listen to you while you explain things and apologize? Other guards have tried talking to them, including your mentor Mr. Grayson and I think it's safe to say it did** _ **not go well**_ **for neither of them. Well, at least that Grayson fellow is** _ **alive**_ **… the others, however…"**

Fritz looked at the bear while closing the door on Bonnie's face. "Stuffed in suits?"

Golden Freddy nodded. **"Harshly and mercilessly."**

"But they know me," Mike reminded. "Well, they _did_ … Maybe if I tell them my name…"

The bear observed him for a while. **"Those poor children have long forgotten their past, Michael Schmidt. The longer they stay in the world of the living, the more they forget,"** he explained. **"Perhaps by reminding them of who they are, you'll be able to change something, yes…"**

"… Are you talking to me or to yourself?"

 **"Alright,"** the bear said suddenly. **"If you insist on attempting such a stunt, the most I can do is stand by your side so I can help in case things go…** _ **not**_ **according to plan…"**

Fritz stared at Golden Freddy with his eyes wide. "Wh… You were supposed to dissuade him!" He looked around desperately. "Where's Rika, I'm sure she'll be able to talk some sense into both of you…"

Golden Freddy sniffed. **"Fredericka is currently keeping watch on her sister,"** he stated. **"She is, quite possibly, the worst of the bunch… Her abilities make her quite difficult to find…"**

"Abilities?" Fritz repeated, frowning.

 **"Yes, boy, abilities,"** the bear croaked. **"Don't you watch television? Ghosts possess a certain range of abilities that become available when one dies. Shape shifting is a basic feat, as well as invisibility…"**

"Oh so _that's_ how Bonnie can teleport!" Mike exclaimed, interrupting Golden Freddy. "It's the ghost that makes him do that…"

"And I bet one of the ghosts can manipulate video feed," Fritz added with a growl. "That explains why the kitchen camera never works… It's probably the one controlling Chica…"

A faint familiar singing voice was heard in the distance. _"Dada dum dumdum, dada dum…"_ It sounded like Foxy was not going to leave Pirate Cove for now _,_ if him singing was any indication.

Fritz opened the left door, since Bonnie was not there anymore. Taking that as a sign that the bunny was probably distanced enough from the office by now – since he could teleport and everything… - Mike stood up.

"It's time," he said, checking his watch. He had fifteen minutes. "You'll be there, right?" he asked, turning to Golden Freddy.

The bear nodded. **"Certainly,"** he grunted. **"Did I not assure you that I would? Fredericka is not going to like this…"**

"I don't like this either!" Fritz hissed, standing up as well. "I don't want to be the one to tell Claire about what happened here, just so you know."

"There won't be any need for that," Mike assured. As usual, the presence of the ghostly bear made him feel more confident, even if that was the grumpier Golden Freddy. "I'll come back in one piece."

The night guard took a cautious step outside the office, peeking out to make sure Bonnie was, in fact, away from him. He could spot the animatronic bunny at the end of the hall, but he had his back to him, and he, unlike Foxy, couldn't run, so it should be fine.

Mike sighed. This went against the hard-earned instincts he had developed while working at the pizzeria, but he knew he was doing the right thing. Something told him that talking to the spirits of the children from a (former) friend's perspective was the right approach, instead of talking to them as a terrified night guard that doesn't want to die.

He looked at Golden Freddy, who hovered next to his right shoulder, staring at the robot at the end of the hall. He was obviously keeping Bonnie under a close watch so that he could stop him in time in case he made a move.

The guard then looked at his partner, who was standing at the door with an extremely apprehensive look. Despite everything, he gulped and nodded. "Ah screw it; it's too late to back down now… Alright, I'll check where they are through the tablet. Be careful."

"I'm always careful," Mike retorted, feeling like he was telling a massive lie, while he turned his gaze back towards Bonnie.

As if sensing his stare, the animatronic turned his head slowly to look at the night guard. As with the first time Mike had found himself staring at the robots without the comfort of a window or a screen standing between then, the bunny showed a horrified expression at seeing the human within reach.

"Mi… s… guu…" he groaned.

 **"Hurry, boy,"** Golden Freddy croaked. **"Whatever you want to say now is the time."**

The guard cleared his throat. "Okay, uh… Harley?" he called, unsure if that was the name of the ghost that inhabited Bonnie in the first place. "Harley Hollister, is that you?"

Bonnie's body did a weird twitch, then turning around completely to face Mike.

 **"Good guess,"** the ghostly bear praised. **"Keep going."**

Mike nodded. "Harley, remember me? I'm Mike Schmidt, your friend."

The bunny blinked, his eyes narrowing. He took a step forward. **"Li… ar…"**

That wasn't Bonnie's voice that was talking now. That was Harley.

"It's not a lie – it's in my name tag, see?" He took out the tag and threw it at the bunny.

It didn't reach the robot, but there was no need. Bonnie walked towards the name tag and bent down to pick it up. His hands twitched. **"Mike… Schmidt…"** he read. He then looked up at the night guard. **"… Mi… key…?"**

Mike sighed of relief. It was working, sort of. "See, I knew you'd remember me. And you're Harley. Harley Hollister. You're not Bonnie the Bunny. You were… you _are_ my friend, right?"

The purple robot didn't move another inch, apparently frozen in place, red robotic eyes staring into the guard's blue eyes. **"I'm… Harley…"**

Only then did Mike notice a presence above Bonnie's head. At first, it had no form, but then it slowly took on the appearance of a young child. Harley. His eyes were white and empty, and he had no color. His hair, skin, clothes, were all tinted grey.

 **"Harley…"** the ghost repeated, as if the more he said it, the more he convinced himself that was really his name. **"Harley… Harley… Harley…"**

"Mike," Fritz hissed from the office. "Chica's headed your way," he warned."

Right on cue, the large robotic chicken emerged at the end of the wall, leering down at the guard with her eerie purple eyes wide open in a deranged stare. "B... Bo… nn…"

Mike gulped. The place was getting crowded… He was having nasty flashbacks of the two times he almost got killed by the robots now… But he couldn't give up.

Since Harley inhabited Bonnie and Rika's sister inhabited Freddy that left Jonah and Crevan. Which one of them could be controlling Chica? Which one of them would make more sense? He wanted to remember his friends properly – how they acted, how they talked, which of the robots they liked. It would help him figure out which of the boys was currently leading the large robotic chicken towards him.

"Um… Jonah?" he called, remembering the happy chubby boy from the picture.

Chica froze, right next to Bonnie. Her beak snapped open, making her look even more menacing than before.

That didn't look promising… "Jonah Macintyre? That's you, right?"

A couple of seconds went by. **"… Mi… Mike?"**

Like with Harley, a figure appeared above Chica's head. Jonah made himself visible – he was a lighter shade of grey, but his eyes were all white, like Harley's.

"He recognized me right away," he muttered to Golden Freddy. "Why did it take less than with Harley?"

 **"It depends how much they've forgotten and if they've lost their touch with reality,"** Golden Freddy explained. **"Don't lose focus now; the worse is yet to come"**

Mike nodded. "Yeah… Rika's sister, right? And Peter…" He had no idea what he could do about Peter, now that he thought about it. He knew the five kids that were killed in 1977, but he never met the one that was killed at Fredbear's Family Diner… How could he get through to him?

 **"Why… why are you here…?"** Jonah wanted to know.

Mike could still hear Harley repeating his name to himself over and over. "I'm the night guard, Jonah," he replied. "I'm not the one that killed you – none of those night guards before were!"

Chica's eye twitched, as Jonah whimpered. **"But he said… he said… that he always…** _ **always**_ **came back…"**

The sound of curtains being pulled apart roughly was heard. Crap – that meant Foxy was out.

"They're all gathering here, man," Fritz warned. "If they make a move, you're finished."

"I _know_ that," Mike hissed as reply. As if he couldn't see it, with the robots staring at him with those creepy glassy eyes…

Golden Freddy grunted. **"I** _ **am**_ **here, you know,"** he reminded. **"I believe I'm more than capable of keeping them at bay long enough for you to get back in your office"**

 **"You dummy, go away,"** snapped a child's voice, coming from behind both Bonnie and Chica.

Foxy the Pirate had joined the party. His hook was swinging dangerously in all directions, as if the ghost controlling him was agitated.

 **"What are you doing out of your office?"** the voice demanded to know, as Foxy's jaw snapped open. **"Get back in!"**

Mike looked at Foxy with a confused expression. "Uh, the one left is… Crevan? Crevan, it's…"

 **"Mike Schmidt, you idiot,"** Crevan snarled, his spirit appearing over Foxy's head like the others. He wasn't completely grey like Jonah and Harley – his eyes and hair still retained their color. **"I know who you are, and I know who** _ **I**_ **am, don't waste your breath. If she finds you outside, you're screwed!"**

"She… You mean Bernadette?"

 _"Fufufu… fufu…"_

Mike sighed. And there it was…

"They really like showing up on cue uh…" he commented aloud.

Golden Freddy nodded. **"Almost seems rehearsed, doesn't it?"**

Freddy Fazbear finally showed himself, walking up to his robotic companions with a slow stride. He was humming to himself, obviously under Bernadette's control.

 _"Fufufu…"_

 **"Mikey"**

Another golden bear appeared on the other side of the night guard, scowling at him. Rika was clearly not impressed.

The night guard put up a hand before she could start. "I know, I know, bad idea, no need to tell me, but take a good look." He pointed at Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. "I tried reach out to Harley and Jonah, and it worked. They remember…!"

 **"Were you really thinking of letting them kill you?"** she asked sharply.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye, not really wanting to face her accusatory glare head on. "I had a bit of a woobie moment, forget about it. Fritz snapped me out of it."

"You're welcome!" said Fritz's voice from the office door.

"Look, I know you're hiding from Peter, but they're more receptive to what we have to say now," the guard said. "I mean, they haven't attacked me yet. So, maybe you should show them who you are. You don't have to be Golden Freddy anymore. You can just… be Rika."

 **"Mister Purple Man, how many times are we going to play this game?"** asked a female's voice, which Mike assumed to belong to Bernadette, as it seemed to come from Freddy's general direction. **"I don't know any 'Mike Schmidt'. You might have tricked my friends, but that won't work on me. Just face it – no matter how many times you come back, we will always catch you. So why don't you just let this be the last round? Don't worry; we'll pick the prettiest outfit, especially for you."** She laughed, as her spirit materialized above Freddy's head. It was completely grey, with only two white orbs hovering where the eyes should be.

"Yeah, she's not gonna listen to me," Mike concluded. "But she might listen to you. You're her sister."

The two Golden Freddies looked at each other.

 **"No harm in trying,"** Fredbear said. **"This young man has accomplished more than all the other guards before him did. Let's listen to him"**

Coming from the usually gruff and rough Fredbear, that vote of confidence meant a lot.

Rika stared at the other ghostly bear for a while, before making her decision.

Slowly, the broken bear transformed into a little girl. A little girl with black hair to her chest and amber-ish eyes. There was blood in her blouse and skirt, as well as on her face, coming from one of her eyes and her mouth. She looked up at the night guard.

 **"… Do I look scary…?"** she asked timidly.

Mike smiled. "Not at all. Honestly I think Golden Freddy looks scarier," he admitted.

Fredbear sniffed. **"Well,** _ **excuse me**_ **for not being a cuddly bunny rabbit with flowers in my fur…"**

"Go on, talk to her," Mike encouraged, patting Rika's head. He wasn't too sure if she could feel it, considering she was a spirit.

The little girl nodded and took a couple of steps forward, looking at her friends.

Harley was still repeating his name to himself when he looked at Rika. **"… Rika?"**

Jonah looked at her as well, sobbing into his hands. **"Oh no… oh no… what have I been doing, Rika…?"**

Crevan just looked at her sadly.

The ghost that was once Golden Freddy looked at her sister, who simply looked down at her with an emotionless stare. **"Bernie…?"** she called. **"Bernie… I…** _ **It's me**_ **…"**

Bernadette narrowed her white eyes. **"Who are you calling 'Bernie'? Who even are you? Why are you helping him?"**

 **"I'm Rika, your sister, remember?"** She did her best to smile. **"Please… You can't have forgotten about me… That day… when it… i-it happened… It was** _ **my**_ **birthday."**

 **"My sister left us. She moved on,"** Bernadette snapped. **"She** _ **forgave**_ **him, and** _ **forgot**_ **us."**

 **"Is that what Peter told you?"** Rika retorted. **"Because he told you that the Purple Man will keep coming back no matter how many times you kill him, but that's not possible. You know that, right?"**

Three of the ghosts of Rika's friends looked at each other with confused and taken aback stares. Only Crevan didn't look surprised by Rika's words. **"I tried to tell them…"** he grunted.

Rika advanced further. **"He was wrong, Bernie. Peter was wrong. He was angry that he died. We all were. But people can't die more than once. Those guards you killed weren't the Purple Man. They were all innocent people!"**

 **"NO!"** Rika's sister screeched, making the walls tremble. **"No, that's not… We wouldn't… It** _ **was**_ **him!"**

 **"Daddy taught us better, Bernie,"** Rika said. **"We only die once, and we can't come back. Daddy is here, in the pizzeria, and he knows we're here. He knows what you've been doing. Do you think that makes daddy happy?"**

Bernadette was, for once, silent.

Rika took the chance to carry on. **"Trust me, Bernie…"** Rika pleaded. **"** _ **It's me**_ **!"**

The grey ghost stared at Rika for what felt like hours. Her once indifferent and cold stare morphed into the saddest expression possible. **"… Ri… Rika…"** she sobbed. **"I'm… so sorry…"**

"Mike!" Fritz called suddenly, making the night guard jump. He almost forgot he was there.

"What?!" he hissed, looking back at his partner.

"It's time," Fritz said. "Our shift is over."

The clock announced the arrival of six AM. The robots twitched and straightened up. The spirits disappeared, leaving only Fredbear and Rika. One by one, the robotic animals turned around and left to their respective spot on the Show Stage and Pirate Cove.

Rika looked up at the night guard with tears in her eyes. **"She remembered me,"** she said in a whisper. A smile illuminated her face. She was crying, and smiling, at the same time… **"Did you hear?"**

"I sure did," Mike nodded, smiling as well.

The little girl hugged him. Even though he was no medium, he could almost feel her grasp around his legs.

 **"Thank you"**

And she vanished. She had a lot to talk about with her friends and sister.

 **"Well, all in all that went rather smoothly,"** the remaining Golden Freddy evaluated. **"You did a splendid job."**

Mike scratched the back of his head, still amazed at how well it had gone. Really, that went much better than he had feared! "I try," he muttered. "I did say I was gonna help."

Fredbear nodded. **"And help you did. Those kids are now aware of what they've been doing."** He sighed. **"I believe that, together, they should be able to get Peter out of that dark place as well… You know what's left to do right?"**

Mike nodded, as Fritz approached the two with a relieved grin.

"Man, I thought for sure we were in for a lot of trouble back there," the other guard admitted. "Well, _you_ , considering I was pretty safe back there. So, what's next?"

Mike looked back at him. "Next – we find out who the Purple Man is. And we make sure justice is served."

* * *

 **[A/N - Well, the hard part is done - maybe.**

 **One chapter left for this arc guys! The next arcs will be announced on the last chapter, so brace yourselves.**

 **I wasn't too sure if I was going to make the children be snapped back into reality this chapter or later, but considering what I have yet to reveal, I thought it was better to not leave it all for the next arc, otherwise it would probably be info overload...**

 **Any ideas as to who the Purple Man really is? :D**

 **See ya next chapter!]**


	9. Chapter 8 - Relief

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Five Nights at Freddy's" or its characters.**

* * *

' _Well… this is awkward…'_

Mike ate his food silently, sometimes looking up to check on the only other person that was having lunch with him.

Usually, it would be just him and Claire – now that he had his cousins leaving with them though, they had four people eating at the table. Today, however, it was just him and his cousin Lily.

According to Lily, Eddie was "indisposed"; that probably just meant that he didn't feel like joining them for lunch. As for Claire, she had been feeling more and more tired as time went by, so she barely ate anything before going back to their bedroom. No work for her today it seemed…

Mike was worried for her, but right now he had to deal with the awkwardness of eating along with a family member that he hadn't seen in years. It felt almost pathetic – he had just faced a group of murderous robots and potential death a few hours ago, how hard could it be to talk to his teenage cousin?

He had to at least _try_ and talk to her. "So… How was, uh… school yesterday…?" _Oh God that was so sad…_

Lily shrugged. "Same as always – boring," she clarified. "I had a work presentation. It went okay I guess."

"Oh, what was it about?" Mike asked. He didn't really care, but at least they weren't eating in silence anymore.

"The evolution of mechanics," the teen replied, sounding bored just by remembering it. "I think I'll have a good grade. I guess I could have talked more than I did, but Marshall was handling it just fine…"

Mike frowned. "Marshall?" Where did he hear that name before…?

The red-haired teen sighed heavily. "A boy in my class," she said. "He was pretty insistent on being on the same group as me, for some reason." Even though she used the words "for some reason", Mike had a feeling she knew very well what the reason was; she was blushing, after all.

"Hey, is his last name Grayson?" Mike inquired, suddenly remembering where he had heard the name Marshall; that was the name of Phil Grayson's older son.

Lily nodded. "Yeah, why?" She raised an eyebrow. "You're not gonna act all 'papa wolf' like and go have a one-on-one with every boy that I talk to, are you?" She sounded defiant but, oddly enough, a bit hopeful as well.

Mike snorted. "As if. I just happen to know his dad," he informed. "He's in the hospital, and I saw Marshall when I went to see him."

"Marshall told me about that," Lily commented. "I think his dad is getting better. At least he said he should be waking up anytime now. What happened to him, exactly?"

The guard looked at his food. Well, he knew what had happened, but he couldn't tell her. "I heard he was jumped by a group of robbers on his last week on the job," he lied. "He actually worked as a night guard at Freddy's before me."

Lily gulped. "Yeah…" She looked down at her plate as well before deciding to talk again. "Hey, I heard some… um, weird rumors…" she muttered. "… About the pizzeria you work in… Is it true the robots move around during the night and go after the night guards…?"

It never ceased to amaze him how Lawrence could keep the whole thing covered from the police while everyone in town seemed to know about it, even if they thought it all to be rumors and urban legends. It really was "concealing the truth in the obvious lie".

Still, he had to be careful. The manager might have allowed him to tell the truth to Claire, but he couldn't tell it to his cousins. Especially not Lily, considering she was afraid of robots.

"Not really," he lied, _again_. "I mean, the robots _do_ move, but they don't hurt anyone. It's just a joke that somehow got out." Yeah right – a _joke_ …

Lily nodded, sighing in relief. "Still, isn't it scary to see them move around, in the dark…?" she asked meekly. It sounded very different from her usual confident and somewhat rough tone of voice. Her "tough girl" attitude obviously went out the window whenever she talked about her biggest fear: anything robotic or animatronic.

"Oh, it is," Mike confirmed, chuckling. "Even after a while, it's still creepy as all hell."

His cousin chuckled along with him.

Mike went back to eating the potatoes he had almost forgotten about. "Speaking of fear, how did you fear for robots start, Lily?"

Lily's smile disappeared instantly. "Oh… That…" She gulped and drank a bit of soda. "It happened when I was ten… I don't… really like talking about it…"

"That's okay," the guard assured quickly, waving his hand. "If you don't feel like it, you don't have to. I was just curious."

His cousin took in a deep breath, as if to gain confidence. "No, it's fine… Maybe I should talk… to _you_ about it…" she hesitated. "Have… have you ever heard about the, um, 'Bite of 87'?"

Mike almost chocked on his drink. It took him a few seconds to recover. "H-how do you know about that?"

Lily shifted in her seat, squeezing a handkerchief in her hands. "… I was there…" she admitted. "My music teacher at the time took my class over to Freddy Fazbear's… Not this one you work at though," she explained. "Another one, in the town I lived in… A boy from school was having his birthday there too – he was two years younger than me. His name was Ryan, I think… Some teenagers were bothering him, so my teacher went over to scold them… b-but…"

The teen's voice died out as she remembered the events. Mike put down his handkerchief, stood up and went over to her side.

She sighed and shivered. "One of the robots bit her…" she went on, her voice trembling as if she was about to cry. "I was right there… There was a lot of b-blood…"

"Alright, that's enough," Mike said, putting an arm around her. "You don't have to say anymore, Lily. No wonder you're afraid of robots…"

Much to his surprise, Lily didn't try to get away from him. She seemed to find comfort on him being there for her – now that he thought about it, she probably didn't have much of that with her stepfather…

But still, that was some reveal. He never considered the possibility of Lily having witnessed something like that… She was there when the "Bite of 87" took place. She saw Lawrence's wife getting bit by Mangle when she was just a kid. Really, he'd be afraid of robots too if he had seen that…

He looked at his cousin, who was calming down slowly, and decided he should say something. "Um… I know that from your perspective the robots must be the scariest thing in the planet, but…" he started, not sure if he was even saying the right thing. He just knew that he had to explain it to her. She had to know it wasn't the robots' fault. "… they're not bad, you know? I have a friend who worked at that pizzeria back in 87, and he said someone tampered with their system, so they weren't working properly."

Lily didn't show any indication that she had listened to what he was saying. She kept looking at the handkerchief in her hands with a somber look.

"The animatronics at the pizzeria I work at can't really interact with the children during the day now, because of the 'Bite'," he informed. "But if they could, they wouldn't hurt anyone." Probably – considering they were haunted, he couldn't be sure. Maybe _now_ it would be safe? He had a good feeling about the way things had gone with the deceased children the previous night.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Lily asked unexpectedly.

Mike blinked, looking confused. "W… Why are you asking me that?"

"When that robot… Mangle, you said? – when she bit my teacher… I saw something…" she muttered, almost in a whisper, as if she was afraid to say it out loud. "Something hovering over her head… It was whispering in her ear… B-but I don't know if it was real or not… Maybe I was just imagining things…"

"What did it look like?" Mike asked quickly. He knew better than to ignore something like this now. He knew that the pizzeria he worked at was haunted – the whole franchise was, from the looks of it. If Rika and her friends had been around the robots ever since they died, so could something else… And he knew of a spiritual presence that would be absolutely overjoyed to see someone get hurt – he actually knew, from Jeremy Fitzgerald, that it was in fact present the day of the Bite. He just had to make sure that it was the same presence Lily was talking about.

Lily shivered. "It was… purple… Shaped like a tall bunny… Kinda looked like the blue rabbit robot…"

"Shadow Bonnie," Mike muttered to himself. He was right. Lily did see Shadow Bonnie that day. And from what she told him, it sounded like that damn thing was outright _responsible_ for making Mangle bite Mrs. Richards – whispering in her ear, uh? To what lengths would that bastard go to bring as much chaos and pain to people around it just for the heck of it?

Lily forced herself to smile. "But it was just my imagination, right? T-that's what mom said…" Her expression turned dark again. "Then again, mom said a lot of things… _Promised_ a lot of things… And she never stayed true to her word…"

"Well, that won't happen here," Mike assured, shaking her a bit. "I promise I won't let you get hurt again. And I'm not gonna break that promise, alright?"

Lily stared at him for a while, before smiling again. "Okay. I trust you."

"Good. And about that purple thing you saw," Mike added. "If it shows up again, let me know. I'll take care of it." _'I have my own score to settle with that jerk anyway.'_

* * *

The two night guards looked at the large robotic animals that stood on stage, frozen after a long day of work. Nothing indicated that there was going to be anything different about their behavior that day, regardless of the actions Mike had the night before. They were still motionless, expressionless, and _creepy as fuck_.

"Well, we'll only see how they act later," Fritz sighed, deeming his staring competition with Chica to be a lost cause. "No use on sticking around here."

"Right…" Mike didn't move. Could his words really have had some effect on those kids? His friends…? He hadn't even gotten to apologize to them, like he wanted to in the first place. In the middle of having the robots swarm at the hallway and seeing the actual ghosts right there in front of him he ended up focusing merely on getting them to remember who they were to make sure that they didn't impose any immediate danger. If things had worked out for the best, they should be peaceful enough for him to actually try and make proper emends with them… and himself.

Mike and Fritz turned around to find someone there, looking up at the robots as well. Mira, the female janitor, wielding the same mop her father usually held on to whenever he made conversation with Mike.

"Oh, hey Mira. Didn't see you there," Mike commented. It seemed like being a medium wasn't the only thing Mira had inherited from her father – both had this thing for sneaking up on people apparently…

Fritz did his usual routine of bowing his head and kissing her hand, which the janitor didn't even bother with questioning at this point. "My dear," he greeted. "I am so sorry I didn't go talk to you yesterday. My partner here had a lot of concerns in mind…"

"So I heard," Mira said. "Fredbear has informed me about the latest developments. I must congratulate you. The children have recovered their sanity."

"Sanity…?" Mike repeated, not sure of what she meant, though it sounded like good news.

Mira looked at the robots again. "Ghosts have a different notion of sanity from the living, Schmidt. With us, living humans, sanity depends on our mental health. With ghosts, it depends on their emotional health," she explained. "If a ghost lingers on the land of the living for too long, they are at a higher risk of losing their sanity. They forget who they are, they forget their families, they are no longer capable of telling the living apart. That is what happened to the children."

Mike nodded. "That's why they went after the night guards, right? They only recognized the uniform, not the face…"

"So how does a ghost lose his sanity?" Fritz asked interest. "Is it just because they stayed too long here? Because Fredbear mentioned Rika almost lost her sanity when her mother died…"

"A ghost with strong negative feelings will lose their sanity that much faster and become a negative sprit," she replied. "Negative feelings such as rage, hate, or despair. The children's hate for their killer blinded them. Rika accepted her death but, wanting to keep her family and loved ones safe, she stayed behind to watch over her friends. When her mother died, her despair almost turned her into a negative spirit. From what she told me, the only thing that prevented her from losing her sanity completely was seeing her father return to the pizzeria. She recognized him, and managed to regain some of her memories.

"Even after that, she hadn't regained her strength as a ghost. A lot had been lost to her despair. Only when Phil Grayson took over as night guard did she get her power back. She saved him from being killed and has been keeping an eye on you once you replaced him."

"And thank God for that," Mike said. "If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have made it past my third day…"

"So, in short," Fritz intervened. "If it wasn't for Phil taking over the night shift, Rika wouldn't have been able to keep us safe?"

Mike snorted. "If it wasn't for his messages, whether Rika was strong enough to help or not wouldn't have mattered." Even if he _did_ think they were all a big joke in the beginning…

"Good point."

"Anyway, you've done a good job," Mira concluded. "The children have managed to regain the majority of their sanity thanks to your intervention. They should not bother you tonight. Now there is only one more thing left to do."

Mike and Fritz nodded at the same time. They knew what they had to do, question was – _how_ would they do it?

"We have to catch their killer," Fritz stated. "But we don't have much to go with – all we know is that he was a guard at Freddy's. And even then, it seems like all the people who took over that role are gone."

Mike sighed. "Yeah, that's a problem… I don't even know where to begin…"

Mira looked at them. Then, without warning, she lifted up her mop and smacked them both on the head with it.

"OW – Hey!" Mike snapped, holding his head. "What was that for?!"

"If the one responsible for killing those children was a guard, then you investigate all the guards," Mira said. Even though there was no sign of threat or annoyance in her voice, her eyes were practically screaming at the two men. "Simple. Isn't Phil Grayson's sister married to a police officer? I'm sure he won't object to helping you out with your investigation. Amongst all the men that took over the role of guards at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza one of them was clearly able to deceive everyone into trusting him. He is not gone, he is not dead. One of the guards is still out there, _alive_ , ready to hurt more innocent children if the chance presents itself. If you two don't get a move on then things will end up the same as they did in the other world."

Mike had been rubbing his head furiously on the same spot where Mira had struck him with the mop when, at this last sentence, he stopped suddenly to give her a suspicious stare. "What do you mean, 'the same is they did in the other world'?"

Fritz, who had been mimicking Mike on rubbing his head, looked at Mira. "Mira, dear?"

The janitor took a second to spare an annoyed stare at Fritz before responding to Mike's question. "This world has several different timelines, or dimensions, if you will," she started explaining. "In each of them, history took a different turn depending on certain events that happened in a different manner or didn't happen at all. There is one, in particular, where the history of this place…" She paused, and then sighed. "… did not have a happy ending…"

"What happened?" Mike wanted to know, not even bothering to question her about these other "timelines" she spoke about. At this point, really, he was ready to believe in anything.

"The killer was never caught," Mira declared, an emotion making itself present in her voice for the first time since Mike met her. It was sadness. "The children didn't find peace. The pizzeria was closed down, and thirty years later, a horror attraction was open, taking advantage of all the so-called 'rumors' and 'urban legends' surrounding this place."

"Wh…" Mike stammered, not believing what he was hearing. "Wait, does that mean that I… does that mean that I didn't do anything to help in that timeline?"

"You did. But you died before you could do more," Mira replied. "You died before your sixth night on the first week. Shot in an alley. That happened because you didn't have Phil Grayson to visit at the hospital, considering he too died on the job. In that timeline, Rika was unable to save him."

Shocked by that reveal, Mike found himself unable to speak, so it was up to Fritz to take over the conversation.

"Um…" he hesitated, obviously not really sure if he wanted to know what happened to him in that timeline. "… And me…?"

"You never got back to working here," Mira said. "But you're still alive."

Fritz sighed in relief. "That, at least… But hey, that's in a whole other world, right?" He turned to his partner. "We're not in that world, we're in _our_ world. So let's worry about we can do here, okay? Things haven't gone that bad yet so we have a chance!"

At least he had Fritz' positive thinking…

"Right," Mike agreed, trying not to imagine himself dead in some random alley.

Seriously, _that_ was how he died? How lame… And Phil didn't survive. And the killer was still out there. That timeline wasn't fair…

"Well, that's enough depression for today," Mike decided. "Mira, have you seen Lawrence? I want to ask him a few things."

Mira turned her back on them. "Mr. Richards is not here," she informed, as she walked away. "His daughter has a special role on a play at school, so he took the day off to go help her class with preparing the set."

"I can't imagine that at all!" Mike said, again stunned at his boss' ability to act so out of character when it came to his daughter. Maybe he was one of those guys that only showed his soft side to his kids… Again, it was hard picturing Lawrence Richards with a soft side…

"It is only natural that, having lost so much, Mr. Richards does his absolute best to ensure that he never misses out on anything that regards his daughter." Mira still had her back turned on them, as she approached Lawrence's office. "He already lost two daughters and a wife. Little Samantha is all he has left."

The night guard gulped. Well, when she put it like that… "I know that, but… it's just hard picturing him as a caring father…"

Mira took a side glance at them. She took out a key and opened the door to the manager's office.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing?" Mike snapped, dashing to her side. "You can't get in there when he's not here!"

Fritz joined them. "Mira, my dear, I too think this is dangerous," he admitted. "Our boss is not gonna like this…"

Without a word to the two panicking guards, Mira made her way inside the manager's office and picked up a photo that was on his desk. She walked up back to the door, where the two men were still standing, too afraid to enter Lawrence's dwellings without his permission. She showed them the photo.

It showed a younger Lawrence, probably at his thirties. He didn't have a beard then. Next to him was a woman that could only be his wife. She had reddish brown hair to her chest, and kind amber eyes. She was giving her hand to a young brunette girl – Bernadette. The girl was having at the camera with a bright smile. Lawrence was holding a young girl in his arms. Mike recognized that girl too.

It was Rika. Her hair was shorter – only to her shoulders – and she was looking at the camera timidly. She was holding on to her father, obviously trying to hide in his arms.

The most surprising thing of all, in that photo of happier days, was Lawrence's expression. He wasn't smiling widely like his daughter, but he was undeniably _smiling,_ nonetheless. He looked happy; much unlike his current disposition, which was that of constant annoyance and gloom towards the world.

Mike looked down at the photo sadly. He understood why Mira was showing them that picture.

He only knew the stern, harsh manager who covers up the death of his employees because the owner of Fazbear Entertainment forces him to. He didn't get to know the real Lawrence – the proud father of two, happily married to his wife Keira. That man was gone. Part of him died with his two daughters; the other part died with his wife. The last reminder of his existence was that photo.

In the end, Lawrence Richards was yet another victim in the long history of poor souls whose lives were ruined in Fazbear's Pizza. At least the man had something to hold on to still – his daughter Samantha, who, from the little Mike had seen of her, was a lot like Rika. Maybe that was God's way of "petting the dog", so to speak. He allowed him to lose so much, he might as well give him some comfort.

* * *

Mike had to admit – it had been a while since he felt nervous in that office.

Even though he was feeling pretty good about the way the "conversation" with the ghosts had went, in his life, really, there was no of telling. He feared that what he considered to be the norm in his life in general would happen again – "if something can go wrong, it will". He was starting to think that maybe, since things were going better at work, they were getting worse at home.

After going through several depressing thoughts about the other timeline were things hadn't gone quite according to plan and about Lawrence and his overall tragedy-filled life, Mike settled for going home and checking on Claire. He found the blonde looking even worse than when he left her. She had all the looks of someone was cooking up a fever, and so he had no choice but to "order" to stay home for the next couple of days, despite her protests.

Asides from wanting to spend a night at the pizzeria without actually fearing for his life, he was hoping that the ghosts would be peaceful now also so he could ask Lawrence for a day off in case Claire didn't look better the next day. That way he could stay with her.

Lily, probably trying her best to repay the two for all they've been doing for her and her brother's sake, promptly offered herself to watch over Claire and call Mike if she got sicker. When the night guard left the house, the redhead was sitting by Claire's bedside, trying to decide which pill would make the blonde feel better. Eddie, though he denied every claim vehemently, seemed to be worried about Claire as well, as he peeked at the door of her room several times with a frown, only to retreat quickly if he spotted Mike or Lily looking at him. At least Claire wasn't alone.

"Go time," Fritz announced, when the clock reached midnight. "Let's see if you managed to get through to them."

Mike nodded, taking a deep breath as he looked at the tablet. _Please let things get better…_

* * *

"… I have to admit I'm kind of bored…"

"Shut up, don't jinx it!"

Mike tapped the tabled one more time, though he honestly wasn't expecting any changes. It was three AM already, and the robots hadn't moved an inch. Freddy, Bonnie and Chica were still on the Show Stage, and the curtains on Pirate Cove were still closed. Everything was peaceful. Maybe too peaceful…

"Maybe they're trying to lead us into this false sense of security…" Fritz suggested with a dark expression. Mike was pretty sure he was joking, but a small part of him – his survival instinct, perhaps – was agreeing with Fritz. He handed the tablet to his partner so he could take over the watch. Not that the odds of him seeing anything worthy of concern were high…

Rika hadn't appeared to them yet. If things had worked out like they wanted them to, then maybe she was spending some quality time with her sister and friends, and didn't see any need in checking on the guards, since they were safe now. If things hadn't worked out, however… Why was nothing happening?!

"Gah, this is stupid!" Mike snapped suddenly, making Fritz jump and stare at him with his eyes wide.

"Are you out of your mind…?!"

"Why aren't they moving?!" Mike punched the table, annoyed. "The kids aren't controlling them anymore, so why are they just standing there?! That's even creepier than having them move!"

"Calm down, maybe they just don't feel like going anywhere…" Fritz reasoned, though he didn't seem to be too sure of it. "They've been forced to attack night guards for the past two years, I'm sure they've had enough walking around at night – oh God."

"What?" Mike looked at the tablet, where Fritz was staring. "What? What are you seeing?"

Fritz showed Mike the tablet. The Show Stage was empty.

The two night guards stared at each other with their eyes very round. Crap. _Be careful what you wish for…?_

The sound of quick footsteps was heard coming from the right door. Mike barely had time to look back before Fritz gasped and pulled him away.

Chica was at the door, gleaming purple eyes staring down at them.

"GAH!" both men screamed.

The large chicken smirked, hands in hips. "Well, well, look what we have here~"

"RUN!" Mike yelled, pushing Fritz towards the right door.

The other night guard didn't need Mike telling him twice. He sprinted out the office, but found his passage blocked by something. Something large and purple.

"Oh shit…" Fritz murmured, looking up at the bouncing bunny in front of him.

Bonnie spread out his arms with a large grin. His bright red eyes were the only source of light in the entire hallway. It was _horrifying_. "Hello, Mister Night Guard!" he greeted.

Fritz backed up against Mike, who had just now joined him. Two guards looked back and forth between Bonnie and Chica, and both arrived to the same conclusion. They were _doomed_.

The large bunny moved his arms towards Fritz. He knew what would be coming next…

"Alright, if this is it, I ain't going down without a f -"

His words were muffled by the bunny's furry suit. Unexpectedly, instead of struggling against the robot's overpowering strength as he dragged him towards a suit, he was suddenly in the bunny's arms as he hugged him tightly. _Very_ tightly.

"Oh my God, it's so nice to finally meet you!" the bunny squealed, his voice soaked in a tearful joy. "Ohhh I missed giving out hugs!"

Fritz tried his best to break free from the bear hug – um, _bunny_ hug? – but it was impossible.

Mike, on the other hand, could only watch in bewilderment. He dared a look at Chica, who was standing right behind him with an amused smirk.

"Mike Schmidt, by far the most stubborn night guard we've ever had," Chica commented. "If we don't count dad. Nice to talk to you properly, I guess. Hey, can I see your keys?"

The night guard blinked. He was too stunned to speak, so he simply reached for his keys and handed them to large chicken. He could still hear Fritz' muffled – and ignored – requests for help as Bonnie kept on hugging him and ranting about how he missed hugging people.

Chica observed the small objects for a while, seeming mildly interested. Then, she glared at Mike sharply and threw the keys at his face.

"Hey – what the – hey!" He barely managed to dodge them. "What the hell was that for?!" he snapped. That was the second time he was hit by a female that day…

"That was for your second day on the job!" Chica growled, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

Mike frowned. "What…?"

It took him a few seconds to remember what she was talking about. _'You have got to be kidding me…'_ The keys! On his second night, he ended up being startled by Jim and accidentally threw his keys at Chica! He could not believe she was still upset about that…

"Mike…?" called a weak breathless voice that he recognized as belonging to Fritz.

Mike looked back to see Fritz trying to get away from Bonnie. "A – little – h-help – please…?"

"Bonnie, stop that," Chica said. "You're gonna choke the guy."

The bunny yelped and immediately released Fritz, who almost fell on the floor. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! Are you okay? You're not hurt, right? You don't hate me, right?"

"I'm fine…" Fritz waved dismissively, though he was holding his throat with his other hand.

"So, um…" Mike started to say, looking at the overexcited bunny so that he wouldn't be the next to fall victim to his "power-hugging". "Are you guys, you know… _okay_?"

"If by okay you mean 'no longer under the children's control' than yes, we are," replied a deep articulated voice from behind Chica.

The chicken moved as to make the owner of the voice visible. It was Freddy. The bear adjusted his tie and smiled at the two guards. "Good night, night guards. I don't believe we've been properly introduced. My name is Freddy Fazbear," he said, bowing down as he took his hat. "And these are my siblings Chica the Chicken and Bonnie the Bunny. It is a pleasure to meet you both."

"Siblings…?" Mike repeated, doubtful.

"Freddy's the big brother!" Bonnie added happily. "Then there's Chica, the big sister. Then Foxy, and then me, the baby brother!" He giggled, bouncing on the same spot.

"Yeah, where _is_ Foxy anyway?" Chica wondered. "Don't tell me he's still mourning at Pirate Cove…"

Freddy cleared his throat. "Well, it is to be expected I suppose. He'll need a bit more encouraging if he is to leave the premises of his home," he explained. "Oh, I know. I bet he'll most excited to have the two night guards pay him a visit. Now, gentleman, I urge you to take it easy on my younger brother. He has gone through quite a lot of hardships in the past few years, and as consequence lost a lot of confidence in his abilities as an entertainer. Nothing that a good old pep-talk won't fix, certainly. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to you for all of our – thankfully – fruitless attempts at murdering you. I hope you realize it was not our intention to do so."

Mike looked at Chica with his eyebrow raised, while Fritz simply stared at Freddy with his mouth slightly agape.

"Does he always talk this….?"

"Fancy?" Chica completed with a yawn. "Yeah. _Oooh_ does he…"

Bonnie hopped towards Mike and held his arm. He gave him a guilty stare. "Um… Mister Night Guard… Sorry about… You know… When I almost…"

Mike knew what he was talking about, and didn't let him continue. "It's fine," he interrupted. "Like I said, I don't hate you, Bonnie. Or any of you, for that matter. I know it wasn't your fault."

The bunny's grin returned full-force, and so did his excitement. "Yaaaay!" he squealed. "I'm so happy! Ooooh, can I call you Mike? What's your friend's name? He looks nice! Can we all be friends?"

"Bonnie, hush," Chica hissed, rubbing her temples. There was no need to, as she technically couldn't feel a headache, but it was probably a movement she mimicked due to having seen it being performed by humans over the years.

Bonnie pouted. "But it's been so long since we've talked to someone…" he whined.

"There will be plenty of time for that, Bonnie," Freddy said synthetically. "Now, let us go talk with Foxy. He needs out assistance. We'll get him to leave that cave, even if we have to resort to dragging him out ourselves. He too has some apologizing to do."

Freddy made his way past the other robots and the two guards to start heading towards Pirate Cove. Chica followed him, prompting Bonnie to join. The bunny hopped after his siblings happily, not without looking back at the two night guards and gesturing for them to follow, of course.

The two night guards looked at each other, and then shrugged. They might as well.

Just as Mike took one step to follow the odd group he now belonged to, his phone rang.

"Who could it be at this hour?" he asked himself as he took the device off his pocket. On the screen, it read _"Home"_. Could Claire have gotten worse?

Mike had just pressed the button to answer the call, and he was already hearing his cousin's voice screeching on the phone.

" _M-Mike! Oh my God, I'm so sorry I'm calling now, but…"_ Lily ranted. _"Th-this is an emergency!"_

"Lily, calm down – what happened? Is Claire okay?" he inquired.

He heard a voice in the background, which he assumed to belong to Eddie. He sounded agitated.

" _S-she was getting a fever,"_ Lily stammered, sounding guilty. _"I went out of the room to get some water for her, but when I came back… She was g-gone!"_

Mike's eyes widened. "What do you mean, gone?!"

Lily whimpered. _"I'm so sorry! I was only gone for a few seconds! Eddie was in his room, he said he heard the door slam. I don't know where Claire went, but…"_

A sound on his phone alerted him to someone else trying to call him. "Fuck, what is it with today?!"

"Mister Schmidt, mind your language, please!" he heard the large robotic bear scold. Apparently, the robots had stopped to wait for Mike and Fritz.

Bonnie tilted his head. "Mike, is everything okay? You look worried…"

"Lily, thanks for calling. I'll call when I find Claire, okay? Don't leave the house, I'll find her myself!" he said curtly. He waited for his sobbing cousin to say "Okay" before hanging up the phone.

God, why did that happen? _What_ exactly happened? Why did Claire leave the house when she feeling so ill?

"Mike, is everything okay with your girlfriend?" Fritz wanted to know.

Mike hushed him with a gesture of his hand before picking up the other call he had ringing on his phone. "Hello?" he greeted, his voice quivering.

" _Mike, sorry for calling at this hour, I know you must be working…"_ It was Patricia, Phil's sister. What could _she_ want? _"But your girlfriend showed up here at the hospital, and she looked very distraught…"_

"Claire? Claire's there?" Mike sighed in relief. At least his worry was short-lived… "Thank God, I just got the call saying she was not home…"

" _Yes, she's alright. Her fever is a bit high, but nothing that some rest won't heal,"_ Patricia assured. _"Did you tell her where my brother was? Because she was heading towards his room when I found her."_

Mike frowned. He hadn't, actually. The only times he went there to visit Phil he had gone by himself. What was going on?

"Uh, I didn't, but… That's… That's really strange, but she's okay, that's what matters…" He sighed again. "Sorry for the trouble, Patricia. Can you keep her there while my shift doesn't end? I'll go pick her up once I'm done here." And he'd take that chance to ask Patricia if her husband would be available to talk with him and Fritz. Like Mira said, he could be of some help with the investigation. And he'd also do some of his own interrogating on Claire – seriously, what was she doing at the hospital?

" _Of course, no problem. Before you go, I might as well tell you know about something else,"_ she said. _"It's about my brother Phil. He just woke up from his coma."_

* * *

 **[A/N - Aaand another arc done!**

 **Boy, that was a long chapter... The robots are back to their former selves, so the next week ought to be interesting for the two night guards...**

 **Next arc will be called "A Golden Opportunity - The Return", where three major canon human characters will be back. Two will be welcome, while the other, will _not_... **

**Asides from that, three other flashback arcs will be released, not sure in which order, but they are - "A Golden Opportunity - Not Alone", told from the POV of the Poor Child from FNAF 4; "A Golden Opportunity - Those Who Never Left", told from the POV of all the deceased children minus 5th Child / Rika and Crying Child / Peter; and finally, "A Golden Opportunity - It's Me" told from the POV of the 5th Child / Rika.**

 **I have seen that poster for the FNAF novel, by the way. "The Silver Eyes", uh? I bet it's going to explore on the night guards and even the Purple Man's background, ruining all of my theories in the process... But that's fine! I'm a big girl, I can handle being wrong xD**

 **Also, Claire. What's up with her, I wonder...?**

 **Thanks for all the reviews, faves and follows! As always, they mean the world to me! Love you all! See you next arc~** **]**


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